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THE 



COMING AND REI&N 



CHRIST. 



'THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORIJ) HAS BECOME OUR LORD'S/ 



DAVID N. LO RD. 




NEW-YORK. 
FRANKLIN KNIGHT, 

138 NASSAU STREET. 

1858. 



%^ 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by 

DAVID N. LORD, 

In the Clerk's OflSce of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. 



The Libb^vt 




J . J . R K E D , 

Printer & ^^tkbkotvper, 
4a Centre St.. N. Y. 



PREFACE. 



The object of this work is, to present a brief 
statement of the principles on which the pro- 
phetic Scriptures are to be interpreted ; to give 
an outline of the great scheme of God's govern- 
ment over the world ; to show that Christ is to 
come in person and establish his throne on the 
earth at the introduction of the millennial dispen- 
sation; to state the great events that are to at- 
tend and follow his coming ; and to indicate the 
point which the accomplishment of the great 
scheme of prophecy has reached, and the princi- 
pal predictions that are yet to be fulfilled before 
his advent. 



C ONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Many Important Prophecies have not yet been Accomplished. The 
Two Leading Views of the Future Administration over the World they are 
held to Revealj - - - - - - - -9 

CHAPTER II. 
Their Different Views of the Revelations made in the Prophecies 
Are the result of different modes of Interpretation. The Princi- 
ples on which Anti-millenarians proceed in their constructions of them, 16 

CHAPTER III. 
The Principles op Interpretation on which Millenarians Proceed. 
The Laws of Figurative Language, - - - - - 28 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Principles of Interpretation; the Laws of Prophetic Sym- 
bols, ..,.__-- 40 

CHAPTER V. 

The Redemption of the World is not to take place under the Present 
Dispensation. Instead, it is a period of trial ; of mixed excitements to evil 
and good, under which men are left to act out their hearts and show that 
they are what God in the work of Salvation contemplates them, - 47 

CHAPTER VI. 
The aim of the Present Economy is to Prepare the way for Another 
Dispensation under which Salvation is to be Extended to all Na- 
tions AND the World Redeemed, - - - - 63 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Manifestations that have already been made of the Hearts of 
Men, both Unrenewed and Renewed, under this Dispensation, have 
been very Great and Decisive, ----- 74 

CHAPTER VIIL 
The office of this trial of the Hearts of Men under the Present 
Dispensation is to Prepare the way for the Salvation op the Race 

AT large that is TO COME INTO EXISTENCE IN THE AgES THAT FOLLOW, 90 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX. 
The Aim op Christ's Reign on the Throne of Heaven. The Union of all 
the Unfallen Orbs with this Redeemed world in One Empire mider His 
sway, -------- 94 

CHAPTER X. 
The Numberlessness of Ranks and Hosts over whom Christ is Exalt- 
ed. The whole circuit of the Orbs Peopled by Intelligences, - 109 

CHAPTER XI. 
The Inhabitants of the Heavenly Worlds are made acquainted with 
THE Work of Redemption, - - - - - 119 

CHAPTER XII. 
Christ's Throne in Heaven, is not the throne of David, - 130 

CHAPTER XIII. 
The Perpetuity of the Human Race, - - - - 150 

CHAPTER XIV. 
The Perpetuity of the Human Race, - - - . 170 

CHAPTER XV. 
Christ's Second Coming is to Precede the Millennium, - 184 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Christ is to Reign in Person on the Earth during the Millennium, 197 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Christ is at His Coming to introduce a New Dispensation, - 210 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
He is to Institute this New Dispensation and enter on His Reign 
here at the Destruction of the Fourth Empire under the 3e\t:nth 
Trumpet, -------- 229 

CHAPTER XIX. 
That Christ is thus to Come and Reign in Person on the Earth is the 
Uniform Teaching of the Scriptures, - - - - 249 

CHAPTER XX. 
Christ's Coming.— the First Great Events that are to follow it.— 
The Resurrection of the Holy Dead.— The Transformation of Living Be- 
lievers, 265 



CONTENTS. VU 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Events .THAT are immediately to follow Christ's Coming. — The De- 
struction OF the Anti-Christian Powers. —The Binding of Satan, 272 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Events that are immediately to follow Christ's Coming. — The Judg- 
ment of the Living Nations. — The Restoration of the Israelites. — The 
effusion of the Holy Spirit, ----- 280 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Events that are speedily to follow Christ's Coming. — The New Crea- 
tion of the Heavens and Earth. — The Earth is not to be Annihilated by a 
Conflagration, _.--.-- 286 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
The Earth not to be Annihilated by a Conflagration, - 300 

CHAPTER XXV. 
The Earth is not to be Annihilated at Christ's Coming, - 314 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Events that are to precede Christ's Coming. — The Drying of the Eu- 
phrates, or Alienation of the People from the National Hierarchies. — The 
Emission of the Unclean Spirits to Gather the Kings to the great battle 
against God, ----..- 328 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Events that are to Precede Christ's Coming. — The Eall of the present 
Civil Governments of Western Europe, and union of the Ten Kingdoms in 
One Empire. The Restoration of the Catholic Hierarchies to supreme 
I>ower, -------- 336 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Events that are to precede Christ's Coming. — The Slaughter and 
Resurrection of the witnesses, - - . - 340 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Events that are to Precede Christ's Coming. — Tho Close of the Turkish 
Domination over the Eastern Churches.— Tho Third Woe, - - 350 



Vlil CONTEXTS. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Events that are to trecede Christ's Coming. — The announcement by the 
Angel in Mid-heaven, that the Hour of God's Judgment is Come. — The Fall 
of Babylon. The Warning not to pay Homage to the Civil Powers repre- 
sented by the Beast nor to the Ecclesiastical Powers denoted by its 
Image, ..-.---- 356 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Events that are to precede Christ's Coming. — The Sealing of the Ser- 
vants of God. — The Destruction of Babylon. — Signs of Christ's Coming in 
the Heavens, and on the Earth, ----- 363 

CHAPTER XXXII. 
The Prophetic Periods of the Apocalypse and Daniel, - 371 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

The Glorified and the Unglorified of the Race during the Mil- 
lennium. -------- 398 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Conclusion. — The certainty that these Events are Foreshown. — 

The Children of God generally are to be led ere long to see that this is the 

Scheme of His Government, and to look for the speedy Coming of the 

Redeemer, - - - - - - . 419 



THE 



PRESENT AND FUTURE DISPENSATION. 



CHAPTER I. 

MANY IMPORTANT PROPHECIES HAVE NOT YET BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. 
THE TWO LEADING VIEWS OF THE FUTURE ADMINISTRATION OVER 
THE WORLD THEY ARE HELD TO REVEAL. 

A LARGE share of the prophecies both of the Old 
and New Testament, it is generally admitted by 
those v^ho receive them as a revelation from God, 
have not yet had their fulfillment. They foreshow 
an infliction of great judgments on the nations ; 
a spread of the gospel ; a persecution of God^s faith- 
ful people ; an overthrow of the apostate churches ; 
a coming of Christ ; a destruction of the persecuting 
civil governments ; an extinction of idolatry ; a re- 
surrection of the holy dead ; a judgment of the liv- 
ing ; a conversion of the nations ; a repeal of the 
curse of toil, pain, sorrow, and death brought on man 
by the fall ; a new creation of the heavens and the 
earth ; a reign of Christ over the ransomed world ; 
and a variety of subordinate events that are yet most 
certainly future ; and some of them that are of great 
significance, it is very generally held, are at hand ; 
and may probably burst on the world ere the present 



10 THE ANTI-MILLENARIAN VIEW 

generation passes from the scene. The questions 
then, What is the true meaning of these predictions ; 
what is the great scheme of administration which 
they unfold ; what are the scenes of trial and of tri- 
umph through which they show the followers of 
Christ are yet to pass ; what is to be the redemption 
of the nations which he is to accomplish at his com- 
ing ; and what is to be the scene and nature of his 
everlasting kingdom — are questions of great moment 
and entitled to the serious consideration of those 
who receive the Scriptures as the word of God. Very 
dissimilar and in a large measure directly opposite 
views are entertained in regard to them. 

A large part of the Protestant churches, both in this 
country and Europe, maintain that these prophecies 
are in a great measure significant of events of a dif- 
ferent nature from those which they literally denote ; 
and are therefore either to be interpreted as metapho- 
rical, or spiritualized as though they were allegories. 
They deny accordingly that Christ is ever to reign 
over the world in person ; that the risen saints are to 
reign with him here ; and that he is to institute an 
administration over men that will differ essentially 
from that he is now exercising. They hold that the 
system of providence and the condition of the nations 
are to continue much as they now are, to the general 
judgment, with the exception that the gospel is to 
be made known to the race universally, and great 
numbers are to be converted ; that better human 
governments are to be instituted ; the useful arts to 



OF THE FUTURE DISPENSATION. 11 

be much advanced, knowledge more widely diffused, 
gross crimes prevented, the evils of poverty mitigated, 
physical suffering greatly diminished, and the race 
raised to a measure of refinement, virtue and happi- 
ness, such as only the most favored have hitherto 
known ; that when a few centuries have thus passed, 
mankind will reach the end of their career in this 
world ; that Christ will descend from heaven, and 
calling the dead from the grave, and judging them 
along with the living, will then put an end to the 
multiplication of the race, by transferring the re- 
deemed to heaven and the lost to the realms of Satan 
and his hosts, and the earth and perhaps the whole 
solar system will be annihilated by a conflagration. 
According to this view, the result of the divine ad- 
ministration of the world will be, as far as can be 
judged, the everlasting ruin of immensely greater 
numbers of mankind, most certainly of adults, than 
are redeemed ; of the triumph of Satan in destroying, 
on a vastly greater scale, than of Christ in saving : 
and the aim of God in the measures of his govern- 
ment will thence at length be seen to be far more to 
exemplify his sovereignty and justice in punishing 
the rebellious, than his power, wisdom and grace in 
restoring them to holiness and happiness. The work 
of redemption on this view is to be comprised within 
comparatively narrow limits — extending to only a 
small portion of the fallen ; and to have for its ob- 
ject accordingly, a mere demonstration that God can 
have mercy on the guilty consistently with justice 



12 THE MILLEXARIAN VIEW 

and truth, rather than the actual exercise of his grace 
on a scale commensurate with the wonderfulness of 
the measures by which salvation is conferred, and the 
necessities of a race that is to continue in successive 
generations through eternal ages ; and its glory there- 
fore will lie chiefly in its showing that he is gracious, 
and equal if he chose, to the salvation of countless 
hosts ; — not, as the Scriptures represent, in the ex- 
haustless riches of the love he actually exercises in 
Christ and is to manifest in the complete extrication 
of the nations at length from the sway and curse of 
sin, and elevation to holiness and blessedness in their 
successive generations through the round of endless 
years. Those who regard this as the scheme of ad- 
ministration foreshown in the prophecies, are called 
Anti-millenarians, and Post-millennialists, because of 
their denying the personal reign of Christ on the 
earth during the thousand years. 

A considerable body of evangelical Christians in 
this country. Great Britain and Ireland, wdth many 
in the British colonies and missions, and a few in 
Germany, maintain, on the contrary, that the present 
dispensation is drawing to its close, and that it is in 
its last stages to be marked by avenging judgments 
on the nations, instead of their conversion, and by 
great apostasies from the truth, and a fresh persecu- 
tion of the witnesses of Jesus ; that at the commence- 
ment of the Millennium Christ is to come in the 
clouds, destroy the apostate powers denoted by the 
wild beast and false prophet, raise the holy dead, and 



OP THE FUTURE DISPENSATION. 13 

commence a reign in person over the world ; that 
the living nations are then to be judged, and those 
of them not before renewed, that are not consigned 
to punishment, are to be converted ; that those who 
are regenerated are to be freed from sin and its curse 
in this life ; that the earth itself is to be renewed, 
and be the seat forever of Christ's kingdom ; that 
the work of redemption, with the exception of a 
short period during which at the close of the Millen- 
nium, Satan is to be released from prison, and again 
delude the nations, is to be continued and embrace all 
who come into existence from generation to genera- 
tion through everlasting years. They maintain ac- 
cordingly, that a new dispensation is to be introduced 
at the coming of Christ ; that Satan, instead of tri- 
umphing in the ruin of by far the greatest part of 
the human family, will be bafl3ed and defeated ; that 
sin and destruction will be allowed to extend no 
farther than will serve to prepare the way— by the 
truths which they set forth — for the salvation of the 
whole race that comes into existence thereafter ; 
that Christ's redemption is therefore at length to be 
a redemption of the whole body of the living nations 
in their endless generations, and thence is to have 
a greatness commensurate with the grandeur of God's 
perfections, the wonderfulness of Christ's incarnation 
and death, and the benignity and power of the Spirit's 
influences ; an incomprehensible vastncss, a glory 
ever augmenting and flashing its splendors in brighter 
and brighter effulgence through eternal ages ; — a 



14 THE DIFFERENCE OF THE VIEWS 

trophy worthy in its greatness and beauty of the 
wisdom, power and love that rear it. Those who 
entertain this view of the great scheme revealed in 
the prophecies, are called Millenarians and Pre- 
millennialists, from their holding that Christ is to 
come in person at the commencement of the Millen- 
nium, and reign on the earth during the long series of 
ages denoted by that period. 

These views of the plan of God^s future administra- 
tion over the w^orld, thus differ from each other in 
the most essential particulars, and on the vastest 
scale. The W'Ork of redemption on the Anti-millen- 
arian theory, is infinitely less than on the Millen- 
arian, in its continuance, the number who are to 
share its blessings, the greatness of the exhibition it 
forms of God, and the grandeur it reflects on his 
wisdom. It is altogether incredible, therefore, that 
they can have equal authority from his word. If one 
of them is revealed there as the scheme of his ad- 
ministration, the other cannot be. It were to im- 
peach his wisdom and truth ; it were to treat his 
word as though it were inadequate as a guide, to 
suppose it to be so indeterminate and equivocal in 
its meaning, that each of these views, so dissimilar 
and contradictory may legitimately be deduced from 
it. If one of them is true, the other most certainly 
is not. If one is worthy of the attributes of God, is 
to display them in their fullest effulgence, and fill his 
kingdom forever with adoration and joy ; the other 
must immeasurably misrepresent his purposes, de- 



IS OP GREAT MOMENT. 15 

tract from his glory, and shed a misleading and dis- 
astrous influence on those who adopt it. The ques- 
tion then, which of them presents that view, which 
he has revealed, of the administration he is to exer- 
cise, is of the utmost moment, and deserves the care- 
ful consideration of every reader of his word. 



16 DIFFERENT PRINCIPLES 



CHAPTER II. 

THEIR DIFFERENT TIETTS OF THE REVELATIONS MADE IN THE PRO- 
PHECIES ARE THE RESULT OF DIFFERENT MODES OF INTERPRETA- 
TION. THE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH ANTI-MILLENARIANS PROCEED 

IN THEIR CONSTRUCTIONS OF THEM. 

Where now lies the reason of the deduction by 
these parties from the Scriptures, of these different 
views of the divine purposes ? Such diverse and 
opposite constructions of the same revelations would 
plainly be impossible, were the rules of interpreta- 
tion on which they proceed the same. The same 
laws applied to the same revelations could not yield 
results so utterly dissimilar. Their belief, according- 
ly, that the views they severally entertain, are taught 
in the Scriptures, is the result of a difference in the 
principles on which they make their expositions. 
Their modes of interpretation are as unlike as the 
views are in which they terminate. ' 

Thus, the Anti-millenarian obtains his system by 
disregarding the established laws of language and of 
symbols, and ascribing to the predictions a wholly 
imaginary and arbitrary signification by a process 



OP INTERPRETATION^. 17 

called spiritualization. He has no specific and un- 
equivocal proofs of any one of the elements of his 
peculiar system of views. He rejects that which is 
directly taught, and substitutes in its place, as a sort 
of parallelism to it, an artificial scheme which his 
fancy has wrought. 

The Millenarian, on the contrary, obtains his 
views by interpreting the language and symbols 
through which the divine purposes are revealed, by 
their legitimate and established laws, and has the di- 
rect and express authority of the sacred word for 
every point that he maintains. He takes that which 
the prophecies mean — interpreted according to the 
established laws of language, and the principles on 
which symbols are used, — as expressing the purposes 
they are employed to foreshow. This statement we 
may verify by a multitude of exemplifications. 

First. The Anti-millenarians do not allege any 
positive and explicit proof from the Scriptures of any 
of the great elements of their system. 1. Thus, they 
do not allege any passage that directly teaches that 
Christ is not to come until after the Millennium has 
passed. There is no such passage in the sacred 
volume. 2. They do not allege any direct statement 
that the holy dead are not to be raised from the 
grave, till after the close of the Millennium. There 
is no such representation in the word of God. 3. 
They do not produce any direct testimony from the 
prophecies that Christ is not to reign in person on 
the earth during the thousand years. No trace of 



18 THE ANTI-MILLENARIAN THEORY 

such an intimation exists on the sacred page. 4. 
They have no proofs of their doctrine that the risen 
saints are not to reign with Christ in person during 
that period. 5. They have no direct testimonies to 
sustain their doctrine that the nations are to be con- 
verted before Christ^s second coming. No hint to 
that effect is found in any of the prophets. 6. They 
have no direct proofs of their doctrine that the 
Israelites are never to be restored to their ancient 
land, and reorganized as a nation. 7. They have no 
express proof that the race is to complete its num- 
bers, and the work of redemption cease, at Christ's 
second coming. 8. Nor is there any express revela- 
tion, that the earth is then to be annihilated by a 
conflagration. Of these great elements of their sys- 
tem, they have not a particle of direct and explicit 
proof. They are all the work of mere assumption, 
inference, or fancy. 

Secondly. Instead of relying on the direct testi- 
mony of the word of God to support their system, 
they deliberately and systematically set it aside, that 
they may substitute in its place what they regard as 
a parallel or analogous set of truths. The principle 
on which they proceed is, that the literal is a mere 
vehicle of the spiritual ; that predictions therefore 
of Christ's coming in person at the period of the 
overthrow of the powers denoted by the fourth beast, 
Daniel vii. 13, 14, are mere predictions of his spiritual 
coming ; predictions that he is then to raise the holy 
dead, are only predictions that he will impart spiri- 



OF INTERPRETATION. 19 

tual life to the impenitent living ; the revelation that 
he is then to reign in person and glory on the earth, 
is only a revelation that he is to reign by influences, 
providences, and a moral administration, as he now 
rules the world ; promises that the Israelites are then 
to be restored to their land, converted, and distin- 
guished by favors, as God^s chosen people, are only 
promises of the conversion of the Gentiles ; and so 
of other prophecies. The specific events that are 
foreshown, the blessings that are expressly pro- 
mised, are rejected as mere representatives of a 
totally different class of events and gifts which they 
fancy are parallels or counterparts of those which 
the language and other media of the revelations 
directly denote. It will be enough to exemplify this 
system by a single specimen. 

" And it shall come to pass in the last da3^s, the 
mountain of the Lord^s house shall be established in 
the top of the mountains, and exalted above the hills ; 
and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people 
shall go and say : Come ye and let us go up to the 
mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of 
Jacob ; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will 
walk in his paths : for out of Zion shall go forth the 
law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And 
he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke 
many people ; and they shall beat their swords into 
plow-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks : 
nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither 
shall they learn war any more.^^ — Isaiah ii. 2— ±. 



20 THE ANTI-MILLENARIAN THEORY 

This according to the grammatical meaning of the 
language, is an explicit prediction that in the last 
days, the mountain on which Jehovah's temple stands 
is to be established above the neighboring mountains ; 
that all nations shall go to it for instruction respect- 
ing his will, because his word is there to be promul- 
gated ; that he shall judge and rebuke many people, 
and that they shall universally discontinue their wars 
on each other, and convert their weapons into imple- 
ments of agriculture. It is a specific and clear 
prediction therefore, that in the last days Jehovah is 
to have a temple on mount Zion at Jerusalem ; that 
he is there to make known his will ; that all nations 
are to go there for instruction ; and that they are 
thereafter forever to live in peace wdth each other. 
It implies accordingly the restoration and conversion 
of the Israelites* It is indeed defined by the prophet 
as a " word that Isaiah saw concerning Jerusalem 
and Judah,'' and it closes with a direct appeal to " the 
house of Jacob to come and walk in the light of Je- 
hovah. '^ V. 5. Now those parts of this prophecy which 
are at war with their theory of God's purposes, An- 
ti-millenarians reject, and maintain that they are mere 
vehicles of a wholly difi*erent sense ; or representa- 
tives of a wholly difi'erent class of objects and occur- 
rences. Thus they assume that the Lord's house, 
instead of a temple, denotes the Christian church, 
without any reference to the Israelites ; that the 
flowing of all nations to his house signifies their en- 
tering the church ; that the desire of many people 



OF INTERPRETATION". 21 

to receive instruction tliere, means that they are to 
desire instruction in the church ; and. that the going 
forth of the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem, is sim- 
ply the proclamation of the gospel in the church. 
Now — 

In the first place, This construction is wholly arbi- 
trary. There is no mention of the Christian church 
in the passage. There is no object or word in it 
that stands for the church. Jehovah's temple on the 
top of the mountains, is not the name of the church, 
any more than a temple on any other site is. The 
fancy is altogether groundless and absurd. 

In the next place, There is no principle or law of 
language by which the passage can have such a mean- 
ing. They do not indeed affect to found their con- 
struction on the language of the prediction ; but on 
the things which it denotes ; and especially the 
Lord's house, Zion, and Jerusalem. But there is no 
law by which in the connexion in which they stand, 
they can denote the church. They cannot by virtue 
of any thing that is affirmed of them in the passage ; 
for the imputed meaning is not derived from the 
language, but from the things named by the nouns 
house, Zion and Jerusalem. But Jehovah's temple, 
mount Zion, and Jerusalem, do not stand for the 
church. They are not any where in the sacred vol- 
ume declared to stand for it. And they are not used 
in the prediction as representatives of it. Places and 
material objects are never used by a figure as repre- 
sentatives of something differing from themselves, 



22 THE ANTI-MILLENARIAN THEORY 

except it be by the allegory. But this prediction is 
not allegorical. It is not claimed to be such by those 
who treat it as representative ; and it cannot be, be- 
cause there is no analogy between Jehovah's temple, 
mount Zion, and Jerusalem, and the Christian church. 
The temple is a structure in which worship is to be of- 
fered to Jehovah ; Zion is the mountain or hill on or 
near which that temple is to stand ; and Jerusalem is 
the city which is to surround that mount. What can 
be more incongruous, therefore, than to fancy that the 
structure, the mount, and the city that surrounds it, 
are representatives of the body of believers that are 
scattered through the various regions of the globe, 
who belong to the Christian church ? If they were 
used as representatives on the principles of analogy, 
the temple would stand for sacred edifices in other 
places in which worship is to be offered to Jehovah ; 
mount Zion for the sites on which those edifices are 
erected ; and Jerusalem for the cities or inhabited 
neighborhoods which are to surround those sites and 
edifices ; while the Christian assemblies who are to 
worship in those structures, would be represented by 
the Israelites who are to worship in Jehovah's temple 
on mount Zion. The construction placed by these 
interpreters on the prediction is therefore directly 
against analogy, and confutes itself. Their error is 
much such as he would make, who disregarding the 
fact that the Senate and House at Washington are 
the representatives of the people of the United 
States, should maintain first that the Capitol in that 



OF INTERPRETATION ERRONEOUS. 23 

city ; next, the area in wMch it stands ; and thirdly 
the city, or the District of Columbia, that surrounds 
it, are representatives of the population of the 
United States ; and should therefore hold, that they 
fill that ojQSce exclusively in all the enactments of 
the national legislature in which the capitol, the 
grounds that surround it, and the city or district in 
which it is situated happen to be named. Can any 
thing exceed the error and absurdity of such a the- 
ory ? What expositors of law such interpreters 
would make ! 

In the third place, There is nothing in the usages 
of society that gives any authority to such construc- 
tions of the Scriptures. The principle is absolutely 
unknown in every other sphere of life, and if intro- 
duced into laws, titles of property, history, or any 
other records of human transactions, or opinions, 
would make their meaning wholly uncertain, and 
render them worthless. What would title-deeds be 
worth, if the persons, places, and property named in 
them, were treated as mere representatives of other 
persons, places, and things ; and it were left to the 
caprice or fancy of the judge, whose ofl&ce it is to ex- 
pound them, to determine who the represented per- 
sons, the real owners of the property are ; and what 
the lands, the edifices, or other things are, the owner- 
ship of which the documents convey ? What would 
certificates of stock be worth, if the persons named 
in them as the owners were not really so, but only 
representatives of the owners, of whose names no 



24 THE ANTI-MILLENARIAN THEORY 

trace appeared in the certificates, nor any means of 
determining, or conjecturing who they are ? Yet 
such a principle of interpreting deeds and certifi- 
cates of property, charters, compacts, and other simi- 
lar documents, would be precisely like that on which 
these interpreters proceed in the spiritualization of 
this and the other prophecies. 

In the fourth place, This method of construction, 
renders different parts of the Scriptures contradictory 
to each other, and involves them in infinite confusion 
and uncertainty. If '' The Lord^s house" stands for 
the Christian church, it plainly does, not because of 
its name, but solely by virtue of its being his temple ; 
the structure at Jerusalem consecrated to his wor- 
ship. But if it stands for the church simply by vir- 
tue of its being what it is, his temple in Jerusalem, 
then it is clear that his temple there in past times, 
must for the same reason have stood for, and been a 
representative of the church. If the mere fact that 
the structure called the Lord's house, which is to be 
erected on or near mount Zion in the last days, is to 
be his temple, proves that it stands for and means in 
this prophecy the church ; then the fact that the 
structure erected by Solomon near that mount, and 
called the Lord's house, was his temple ; and the fact 
that the edifice erected by Zerubbabel, on that site, 
and enlarged and beautified by Herod, and called his 
house, was his temple, proves that they also stood for 
and meant the church in all the passages of the Scrip 
tures in which they are mentioned ; and accordingly 



OF INTERPRETATION ERRONEOUS. 25 

the catastroplies that are predicted of them, are re- 
presentatives of catastrophes that were or are to 
befall the Christian church. The prophecies of 
Jeremiah and the other prophets of the destruction 
by Nebuchadnezzar, of the temple erected by Solo- 
mon, are prophecies therefore of a like overthrow 
and annihilation of the church ; and Christ^s predic- 
tion (Matt, xxiv.,) of the dissolution, by the Eomans, 
of the temple erected by Herod, so that not one stone 
should remain on another, is a prediction of a like 
subversion and extinction of the Christian church. 
And as neither Solomon's, nor Herod's temple is ever 
to be rebuilt ; not a particle of the matter indeed of 
which they consisted being now identifiable by man, 
it follows that the church, after the annihilation 
which their destruction represents, is never again to 
be called into existence. The supposed prophecy in 
this passage that all the nations are to enter the 
church ; and the express prediction (Eph. iii. 21,) 

that it IS to continue elg ndaag rag yevettg rov alcovog rov dtcovov^ 

through all the generations of the age of ages, are 
accordingly directly contradicted and convicted of 
error ! Such are the issues to v/hich this theory of 
spiritualization leads. 

In the fifth place. It empties the word of God of 
all certainty of meaning, and enables the interpre- 
ter to erase from its pages any truth, and insert in 
its place any error he pleases. The question Avhcther 
the persons, places, acts, or occurrences expressed in 

the prophecies are to be regarded simply as repre- 

9 



26 THE ANTI-MILLENARIAN THEORY 

sentatives, and what the persons, objects, or events 
are which they represent, is to be decided wholly by 
the fancy or caprice of the interpreter. The nature 
of the spiritualization ; that is, of the things that are 
to be considered as foreshown, and the extent to 
which it is to be carried, are at his arbitrament en- 
tirely. It depends on no principle, it is regulated by 
no law. It may be applied to one class of predictions 
as properly as another, and may strike from us there- 
fore every futurity that is revealed to us in the word 
of God. If Christ's coming in person in the clouds 
of heaven, receiving the dominion of the earth, and 
reigning on mount Zion forever, are to be spiritual- 
ized, and made to signify only what is called a figur- 
ative coming and reigning, i, e., a positive 7Zo^com- 
ing and 7?o^reigning, then his raising and judging 
the dead, the reigning of the risen saints, the con- 
version of the nations, the new creation of the earth 
and air, and all the other events that are foreshown 
must be ; and the whole revelation that is made of 
the future is an unmeaning pageant, a mockery of 
shows, that only tantalize and disappoint our faith 
and hope. 

This method of construction by which they set 
aside the purposes God has revealed, and substitute 
others in their place, is thus altogether groundless, 
arbitrary, and subversive of the truth. If attempted 
to be introduced into legislation, jurisprudence, or 
any other sphere, it would be rejected as an outrage 
fatal to truth and right, and would consign its advo- 



OF INTERPRETATION ERRONEOUS. 27 

cates to universal scorn. Yet it is to this system 
entirely that Anti-millenarians are indebted for their 
belief that their theory of his purposes is taught in 
the word of God. Let them abandon it, and interpret 
the prophecies by their proper laws, and their notions 
of his designs will vanish. 



28 THE MILLENARIAN VIEWS 



CHAPTER III. 

THE PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION ON WHICH MILLENARIANS 
PROCEED. THE LAWS OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. 

In place of that metlioci of interpretation, Millena- 
rians hold that the prophecies like other parts of the 
Scriptures are to be interpreted by the established 
laws of the media or instruments through which they 
are conveyed. If they are language prophecies, like 
those of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Christ, and Paul, they are 
to be interpreted by the usual laws of language, and 
their grammatical is their true and only sense. If 
they are symbolical, like those of Daniel and John, 
they are to be interpreted by the laws of symbolical 
representation as they are exemplified in the inter- 
pretations that are given by the Spirit of inspiration 
in those prophecies, and as they are determinable 
from analogy. The great features of this system of 
principles and laws we shall give, as they are pre- 
sented in the Theological and Literary Journal, and 
in The Characteristics and Laws of Figurative Lan- 
guage.^ 

* The Characteristics and Laws of Figurative Language, by D. N. 
Lord, fourth edition. New York : F. Knight. 



OF INTERPRETATION. 29 

The language prophecies are easily distinguishable 
from those which are symbolical. The symbolical 
prophecies were, with few exceptions, revealed to the 
prophets in dreams or visions, in which the symbols 
were exhibited to the eye of the prophet. Thus 
Daniel and John saw the wild beasts, the human be- 
ings, the angels, and other agents that were symbols 
through which the revelations made to them were 
conveyed, and witnessed the actions they exerted, or 
conditions through which they passed, by which the 
actions or catastrophes of those whom they repre- 
sent are foreshown. When the symbolic agents were 
not exhibited to the prophet in vision, they were ac- 
tually present to him, and beheld by him naturally : 
as were the implements used to represent the siege 
of Jerusalem (Ezek. iv. 1-3,) and the sticks repre- 
senting the two houses of Judah and Ephraim, 
xxxvii. 16-20. The symbolical prophecies beheld 
in vision accordingly are all narrated in the past 
tense. And had Ezekiel narrated the symbolical 
acts he was directed to exert, (chap. iv. v. xxxvii.,) 
after he had exerted them, they also would have been 
related in the past tense. The language prophecies 
on the contrary, are universally, with the exception 
of a few expressions, in the future tense ; as the pre- 
diction respecting Abraham's seed. Genesis xvii. 5-8 ; 
Christ's reign on the throne of David, Isaiah ix. 6, 7 ; 
the restoration of the Israelites, Isaiah Ixvi. 19-22, 
Jeremiah xxx. xxxi ; the conversion of the nations 
and cessation of wars, Isaiah ii. 2-4. This is a con- 



30 THE MILLENARIAN VIEWS 

sideration of great moment, as it cuts off the whole 
system of spiritualization, which is nothing else than 
the treatment of language prophecies as though they 
were symbolical. 

Of the language prophecies also, that which is lit- 
eral, is easily distinguishable from that which is figu- 
rative. No passage or expression is figurative, except 
such as has a specific figure in it. An expression, for 
example, cannot be metaphorical, unless it has a meta- 
phor in it. It cannot be allegorical, unless it is part 
of an allegory. It cannot be substitutional, or repre- 
sentative of one act or condition by another, unless 
there is a hypocatastasis in it. This is a truth of the 
utmost importance, as it cuts off a large class of inter- 
pretations Anti-millenarians put upon passages, under 
the pretext that they are figurative, although there 
is no figure in them. They are accustomed, w^hen the 
exigencies of their theory require it, to treat passa- 
ges as metaphorical without a metaphor, as allegorical 
without an allegory, and as representative or substi- 
tutional, without a hypocatastasis. 

Those prophecies and expressions that are without 
a specific figure, are to be interpreted as l^^teral, a,nd 
their grammatical is their true and only sense. Those 
prophecies and expressions that are figurative, are to 
be interpreted according to the nature of the figures 
through which they are expressed, and their gram- 
matical sense when so interpreted, is their true and 
only sense. 

There are nine figures : the comparison, the meta- 



OF INTERPRETATION. Si 

phor, the metonymyj the synecdochej the hyperbole, 
the hypocatastasis, the apostrophe, the personifica- 
tion, and the allegory. Bach of these has a nature of 
its own that distinguishes it from the others and from 
literal language ; each is used on a principle peculiar 
to itself; and each has its own special law ; and the 
knowledge of their laws is indispensable to the just 
interpretation of the predictions that are conveyed 
through them. The question in respect to the mean- 
ing of the language prophecies, lies almost wholly in 
the question what portion of their language is literal, 
and what portion figurative ; w^hat the figures are 
that exist in them ; and what the principles are on 
which their figures are used, and the laws by which 
they are to be interpreted. When the figures are 
identified and their laws known, their meaning is as 
easily and certainly determined, as that of literal lan- 
guage is. 

The comparison or simile, is an affirmation that one 
thing is like another. In its simplest form it merely 
asserts the likeness ; in its fullest form, the particulars 
of the resemblance are stated. The law of this figure 
is, that the names of the things compared are alicays 
nsed in their literal sense. Otherwise it would not be 
known what the things are that are compared ; and 
the force, beauty, and truth indeed of the comparison 
would be lost. Thus in the Saviour^s declaration 
that, " as the lightning cometh out of the east and 
shineth even unto the west ; so shall the coming of 
the Son of Man be,'^ Matt. xxiv. 27, if '' the lightning^' 



32 THE MILLENARIAN VIEWS 

is not used literally to denote an electrical shaft flash- 
ing from the skies, but some analogous thing of which 
there is no mention in the passage — as a bright 
thought darting through the mind — there can be no 
knowledge what it is to which the coming of the Son 
of Man is compared. And in like manner, if ^' the 
coming of the Son of Man,'^ is not used literally and 
denotes his personal visible coming in the clouds of 
heaven, but some analogous thing of which there is 
no mention in the passage, such as an invisible influ- 
ence of the Spirit, or an act of providence, — then 
there can be no knowledge what the event is which 
it is declared shall be like the flashing of the lightning 
in the east, that shines unto the west. And this law 
is of the utmost importance : as in many instances it 
demonstrates that predictions are literal which Anti- 
millenarians affirm to be figurative. For example, in 
the prediction, Isaiah xxxv. 1, " The wilderness and 
the solitary place shall be glad, and the desert shall 
blossom as the rose,'^ the nouns wilderness, solitary 
place and desert, are held by Anti-millenarians to be 
figurative, and to denote men, or the church ; and the 
verb blossom to be figurative also, and to signify that 
the church is to flourish. But the comparison of the 
blossoming of the desert and the blossoming of the 
rose, confutes that notion, and shows that as the blos- 
soming of the desert is to be real ; because it is to be 
like the blossoming of the rose ; so the desert itself 
that is to blossom like the rose, is real also : and the 
prediction therefore is a literal prediction of the con- 



OF INTERPRETATION. 33 

version of the literal desert, the waste, and the wil- 
derness, into scenes of verdure, bloom, and beauty. 
There is a great number of passages in which this 
figure in like manner confutes the tropical or spirit- 
ualized construction put on them by Anti-millenari- 
ans, and proves them to be literal. 

The metaphor is an affirmation that an agent, object, 
or act, is that which it merely resembles ; as when 
God is called a tower, Zion a crown, and the rapid 
movement of a vessel before the wind, flying. The 
peculiarities of the figure thus are : 1. That it 
ascribes to that to which it is applied, something that 
is not literally true of it, but which it only in some 
relation resembles. 2. The figure lies entirely in the 
affirmative part of the proposition in which it occurs. 
The words tower, crown, and flies, are the only words 
that are used by the figure in the expressions — God is 
a tower, Zion is a crown, the ship flies. The nouns 
God, Zion, and ship, of which the affirmations are 
made, are used literally. If they were not, there 
would be no means of knowing what it is of which 
the affirmation is made. And this law of the figure 
is of the greatest practical importance, as it precludes 
a multitude of constructions put by Anti-millenarians 
on passages, on the assumption that the name of the 
agent or object to which the figure is applied is used 
by the figure, as well as the verb or noun of the 
affirmation. For example, in the prediction, Isaiah 
XXXV. 1, " The wilderness and the solitary place shall 

be glad," the nouns wilderness and solitarv place are 

2* 



34 THE MILLENARIAN VIEWS 

held by Anti-millenarians to be figurative, or repre 
sentative, as well as the verb be glad, and to stand 
for human beings or the church, instead of uncultured 
and desolate regions of the earth. But this law of 
the metaphor shows that the figure is confined to the 
verb, be glad ; that the nouns which are its nomina- 
tive, are used in their literal sense ; and that the pre- 
diction, therefore, is a prediction of a change of the 
wilderness and solitary place from waste and desola- 
tion, to a verdure and bloom that shall cause them to 
resemble in cheerfulness and beauty the human coun- 
tenance when lighted up with gladness. There is not 
in the whole sphere of language, a truth of greater 
moment than this ; that in the metaphor universally, 
the nominative or name of the agent or object of 
which the figurative affirmation is made, is used in its 
literal sense ; and that the agent or object, is the 
subject of that which is asserted in the figurative 
affirmation, whatever the meaning of that affirmation 
may be. 

The hypocatastasis is a substitution of an act of 
one kind with its object or conditions, for another, in 
order by a strong resemblance to set forth and ex- 
emplify with greater clearness that which the substi- 
tute is used to represent : as when Enoch is said to 
have " walked with God," as though it were in a 
path, to signify that he acted conformably to God^s 
will ; or lived obediently to his law. This figure, 
which is wholly unnoticed by rhetoricians and crit- 
ics, or confounded with the comparison and meta- 



OF INTEBPKETATION. 35 

phor, is of very frequent occurrence in the Scrip- 
tures. Thus bearing the cross, the instrument of 
crucifixion, is put for enduring self-denial ; " watch- 
ing," that is keeping awake, unto '^ all prayer and 
supplication,'^ for a continual realization of the duty, 
and a continual earnest offering of prayer ; God^s 
stretching forth his hand, is put for his exerting his 
power ; and his hewing down the forests of Lebanon 
with a stroke, for his striking down the army of Se- 
nacherib, by the blast of the pestilence. It is of very 
frequent occurrence also in common speech, as when 
a person is said to be wading in deep waters, to sig- 
nify that he is pursuing a course of great diflSculties 
and dangers ; and that he has anchored his bark in 
a well-sheltered harbor, to denote that he has placed 
his affairs in a state in which they are secure from 
disaster and disturbance. The principal character- 
istics of this figure are, 1. That its nominative, or the 
name of the agent or thing of which the aflSrmation 
is made, is always used in its literal sense ; and that 
that agent or thing is the agent or subject of the act 
or effect which the substituted act represents. The 
person who is said to be wading in deep waters, is 
the person who is involved in the difficulties which 
wading is employed to denote. 2. The figure accord- 
ingly lies wholly in the affirmative part of the pro- 
position. 3. It consists in the use of an act with its 
object or condition, not of words. The words may 
all be used in their literal sense. 4. The acts and 
conditions ascribed to the agent accordingly are pro- 



36 THE MILLENARIAN VIEWS 

per to his nature. 5. The acts and conditions used 
by the figure are of a wholly different kind from those 
for which they are substituted ; and the resemblance 
that subsists between them is one simply of ease or 
difficulty, strength or weakness, or some other char- 
acteristic of that nature. The know^ledge of this 
figure and its laws is also of the greatest practical 
importance, as it furnishes the means of overturning 
a large class of the constructions by which Anti-mil- 
lenarians set aside the true meaning of the sacred 
word. 

Thus it confutes the pretext that the prediction, 
(Jeremiah xxxiii. 15, 16,) relates to the Christian 
church. '' In those days, and at that time, will I 
cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto 
David ; and he shall execute judgment and right- 
eousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be 
saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely ; and this is 
tlie name whereby he shall be called. The Lord our 
Righteousness." If, as Anti-millenarians hold, the 
expressions, '' Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem 
shall dwell safely," w^ere representative, which they 
are not, it could only be in the affirmative part by a 
hypocatastasis. Let us then suppose them to be 
used by that figure, and Judah and Jerusalem the 
nominatives of the affirmations, will still be used in 
their literal sense ; and the figure will lie w^hoUy in 
the words " be saved," and " dwell safely ;" so that 
whatever those words denote, Judah and Jerusalem 



OF INTERPRETATION. 37 

will be the subjects of them, and not as Anti-mil- 
lenarians contend, the Christian church. 

The allegory is the use of agents, objects, acts, and 
events of one class or sphere to represent intelligent 
beings and their acts in another ; as in the allegory 
of the vine, (Psalm Ixxx.,) and of the vineyard, (Isaiah 
V. 1-7.) The peculiarities of this figure are, 1. That 
agents and objects in one sphere are used to repre- 
sent men in another. 2. The agency of the descrip- 
tive part is always represented as already exerted, 
that is, the narrative is in the past tense, never in 
the future. 3. The conditions and acts ascribed to 
the representatives are always in accordance with 
their nature. 4. It is always attended by an express 
intimation who the persons or people are whom it 
represents. The knowledge of these criteria is 
also of the utmost importance, as they serve to show 
that a large class of prophecies that are treated by 
Anti-millenarians as though they were allegorical, 
have no trace of that figure in them, and cannot be 
interpreted as representative, except by the utter 
rejection of their true, and ascription to them of a 
false sense. Thus the prophecies of Isaiah Ix. Ixii- 
Jeremiah xxxi. xxxii. xxxiii. Ezekiel xxxiv. xxxvi. 
and many others, of the restoration of the Israelites, 
which Anti-millenarians spiritualize as though they 
were representative, and therefore allegorical, are 
shown to be not allegorical* by the simple fact that 
they are written in the future and predictive, not in 
the historical or past tense. This simple test reveals 



38 THE MILLENAEIAN VIEWS 

the error of a vast crowd of their interpretations by 
which they would erase from the sacred volume the 
great purposes God has revealed respecting the com- 
ing and reign of Christ, and the redemption of the 
world. 

For the other figures, the apostrophe, the metonj^- 
my, the synecdoche, the hyperbole, and the personi- 
fication, which are of less frequent occurrence, and 
of less importance in interpretation, readers are re- 
ferred to the author's work on the Characteristics 
and Laws of Figurative Language, where they are 
treated at large. 

All figurative expressions in the prophets are thus 
distinguishable with the utmost certainty and ease 
from those which are literal ; the principles on 
which the several figures are used make their mean- 
ing clear and demonstrable ; and they cut off the 
spiritualization of the predictions to which Anti-mil- 
lenarians are addicted, as absolutely as the axioms of 
geometry preclude false processes in that science. 
Of the certainty and ease with which these figures 
are distinguishable from literal language sufficient 
proof is given in the expositions in the Theological 
and Literary Journal of the first forty chapters of 
Isaiah, in which all their figures, with the exception 
possibly of here and there one through inadvertence, 
are pointed out. That these are their laws also we 
have demonstrated in a great number of cases, and 
it is in truth as indisputable as that the axioms of 
geometry are the laws of that science. It is equally 



OP INTERPRETATION. 39 

indubitable also that they and the ordinary princi- 
ples of grammar are the laws by which the Scrip- 
tures are to be interpreted. They are the laws by 
which all other language is explained. They are 
the only principles of speech. It would be impossi- 
ble for mankind to communicate their thoughts to 
each other either by spoken or written words, if 
they did not designate the agents, objects, and ac- 
tions of which they treat by their literal and distinc- 
tive names. Were all literal names of persons, ob- 
jects, places, acts, and events struck out of a history, 
and their places supplied by pronominal substitutes, 
as he, it, they, it is plain that it would be impossible 
to tell who the persons, what the places, or what the 
actions and occurrences are to which it relates. Yet 
such a history would be no more unintelligible than 
the prophecies are, if as Anti-millenarians assume, in 
regard to many of them, the persons, places, and 
events named in them, are not the real persons, 
places, and events which they foreshow, but are re- 
presentatives of another set which fancy, conjecture, 
or assumption is to supply. 

The questions between Anti-millenarians and Mil- 
lenarians respecting the revelations made in the 
language prophecies, thus lie almost wholly in the 
questions, whether those prophecies are figurative 
or not ; whether they can be figurative without hav- 
ing specific figures in them ; whether all the figures 
there are in them can be identified ; what they are, and 
what the principles are on wliich they are employedj 
and are to be interpreted. 



40 THE PRINCIPLES OP INTERPRETATION. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION ; THE LAWS OF PROPHETIC 
SYMBOLS. 

Some of the revelations God has made are convey- 
ed through symbols in place of language, as most of 
those of Daniel, and John, and a part of those of 
Ezekiel, and Zechariah. The peculiarity of a sym- 
bolical prophecy is, that it is made through repre- 
sentative agents, objects, acts, and events, on the 
principle usually of a general, sometimes of exact 
resemblance ; that is the representative agents are 
sometimes taken from one sphere, and symbolize 
agents in another ; as the beasts of Daniel acting in 
their proper sphere in the animal world, are employ- 
ed to represent men in the civil and military world. 
In other cases when no suitable symbol of another 
sphere can be found, the agent to be represented, or 
one of his kind is employed as the symbol. 

There are somewhat over four hundred symbols 
employed in the Old and New Testament. They are 
of different orders, as, 1. Divine, God the Father, the 
Ancient of days, the One like a Son of Man, the Lamb, 



THE LAWS OF PROPHETIC SYMBOLS. 41 

the Word. 2. Created beings, as living creatures, 
angels, Satan, men, spirits, Yv^ho are intelligent ; beasts, 
monster animals, fowls, fish, insects, that are nnintel- 
ligent. 3. Dead bodies, as the slain witnesses. 4. 
Natural unconscious agents or objects, as the earth, 
sun, moon, stars, waters, a mountain, fire. 5. Arti- 
ficial objects, as an image, candlesticks, a sword, 
cities, a crown, books, linen. 6. Acts, effects, char- 
acteristics, as speaking, flying, fighting. 7. And times 
and spaces, as days, years, furlongs, length, height. 

The most important of the laws of symbols are, 1. 
That the symbol and that which it represents resem- 
ble each other in the station they fill, the relations 
they sustain, and the agencies they exert in their re- 
spective spheres; that is, agents represent agents, 
not acts or effects ; acts represent acts, not agents ; 
effects stand for eff'ects, and conditions for conditions. 
Thus the wild beasts (of Daniel vii.,) destroying in- 
ferior animals, symbolize human kings conquering 
and slaughtering their fellow men. This law is of 
great importance, as it shows the interpreter what 
he is to find in order to a counterpart to a symbolic 
agent, with its objects, acts, and efi'ects ; and cuts off 
a large class of interpretations in which expositors, 
disregarding the laws of analogy, exhibit agents as 
symbolizing acts or events instead of agents, and 
acts and effects as symbolizing agents, instead of ac- 
tions and events. 

2. The representative and that which it represents 
are of different species, kinds, or ranks, in all cases 



42 THE PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION. 

where the symbol is of such a nature, or is used in 
such a relation that it can properly symbolize some- 
thing different from itself. This law is also of great 
moment, as it shows the interpreter that he must 
look for the agent that is symbolized in a different 
sphere from that of the s3anbol, when an analogous 
one can be found ; and cuts off the error into which 
many have fallen, that warriors must of course sym- 
bolize warriors, and earthquakes and other commo- 
tions in the natural world, convulsions and catastro- 
phes like themselves. 

3. When the agents and events to be represented 
are of a nature, or are to appear in conditions, that 
no symbol of a different order can properly represent 
them, they appear in the visions as their own sym- 
bol. Thus as no created agent can properly symbol- 
ize God the Father, or Christ, they appear in the 
visions to foreshow their actual presence in the 
scenes which the visions represent. The Ancient 
of days appeared in the vision, Daniel vii. 9-14, of 
the destruction of the fourth beast, and the investi- 
ture of the Son of Man with the dominion of the 
earth ; and the Son of Man appeared in person in 
the vision of his investiture with the dominion of the 
earth, Dan. vii. 13-14 ; and the Word of God in the 
vision of his coming to the great battle of God Al- 
mighty, Rev. xix. 11-21 ; to foreshow that he is to 
come in person in the clouds of heaven at the epoch 
when those visions are to be fulfilled. Men likewise 
appear in many of the visions as symbols of men in 



THE LAWS OF PBOPHETIC SYMBOLS. 43 

the same spheres and relations, because no other sym- 
bol could serve to represent them in those conditions. 
Such are " the kings of the earth, and the great men, 
and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the 
mighty men, and every bond-man, and every free- 
man, who hid themselves in the dens and in the 
rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains 
and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of 
him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath 
of the Lamb ; for the great day of his wrath has 
come, and Avho shall be able to stand.'' Eev. vi. 15- 
17. No inanimate or brute symbol could represent 
the terror of men at the visible presence and impend- 
ing wrath of the Lamb, which is here foreshown ; as 
none but human beings in those conditions are capa- 
ble of feeling and uttering affections of that kind. 
To foreshow, therefore, that men are to see the Lamb 
in the clouds of heaven, are to know that he has come 
to inflict wrath on his enemies, and are to be over- 
whelmed with terror at the sight, and fly to the dens 
and caves of the mountains to escape from his pre- 
sence, it was necessary that they should be exhibited 
in their own persons in the vision. And so of the 
witnesses in their slaughter, and resurrection. Rev. 
xi. 3-13 ; the resurrection and reigning of the holy 
dead, xx. 4-6 ; and the resurrection and judgment 
of the rest of the dead, Rev. xx. 11-15. 

4. When the symbol and that which it represents 
difi*er from each other, the correspondence between 
them extends to their chief parts, and the general 



44 THE PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION. 

elements or parts of the sj^mbol denote corresponding 
parts in that which is symbohzed. Thns the hosts of 
men which the tempest of bloody rain and fire sweep- 
ing over a cultivated country, destroying the grass, 
the crops, and one-third of the trees, and strewing the 
scene with disorder and desolation, is employed to 
represent, Eev. viii. 7, must have been to the Roman 
people, in power, rapidity, and resistlessness of pro- 
gress, bloodiness and destructiveness, what that tem- 
pest was to the natural world over which it drove. — 
The symbolical agent must have been in the sphere 
which it filled as great, as wide sweeping, as overpower- 
ing, and as destructive of life and property, as the 
fiery whirlwind was in the sphere in which that acted. 
Otherwise not only would symbols have no adequacy 
to foreshow events that have a correspondence in 
fullness and greatness to themselves ; but there would 
be no means of determining what the agents and 
events are which they represent. If the resemblance 
of the symbol to that which it represents were con- 
fined to a single particular, as there is no agent, 
object, or event that does not in some respect resem- 
ble thousands and millions of others, there would be 
no means of determining which, out of a countless 
multitude, is the one the symbol represents. Every 
agent, for example, resembles all others in the fact 
that it is an agent. Were the resemblance of the 
symbol to that which it denotes confined therefore to 
its being an agent, any one out of millions of agents 
would be as much entitled to be considered as the 



THE LAWS OF PROPHETIC SYMBOLS. 45 

agent symbolized as any other. This law is thus of 
great importance, and it precludes a great number of 
constructions which interpreters have put on sym- 
bols, on the assumption that resemblance in a single 
particular is all that symbolization involves. 

5. A single agent in many instances symbolizes a 
combination and a succession of agents ; as the wild 
beasts of Daniel and the Apocalypse. Times, also, 
such as days, months, and years, represent combina- 
tions of days, and successions of months and years. 

6. The names of symbols are their literal and pro- 
per names. 

These laws are deduced from the interpretations 
of symbols that are given by the Spirit of Inspiration 
in the prophecies themselves ; and that fact, their 
conformity to the principles of analogy, and the con- 
sistent solutions to which they lead of the symbols 
that are not interpreted by the Spirit, amjDly estab- 
lish this truth. The interpretations given by the 
Spirit, amount to about one hundred and fifty, and 
include at least one of each class of symbols, and 
many of the most important of the leading classes ; 
and they are all in accordance with and exemplifica- 
tions of these laws. No higher proof can be asked of 
their truth, and adequacy to the interpretation of 
those parts of the symbolic prophecies that are yet 
to be fulfilled. They equally also with the laws of 
literal and figurative language, cut oft' the spirituali- 
zation of the predictions of Christ's coming, and the 
resurrection of the holy dead at the commencement 



46 THE PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION. 

of the millennium ; as according to these laws, his 
coming in the clouds, Daniel vii. 13, 14, as he himself 
shows, Matt. xxvi. 64, and his coming with the armies 
of heaven, Eev. xix. 11-21, symbolize his literal com- 
ing at the time to which those visions refer ; and the 
resurrection of the holy dead in the vision. Rev. xx. 
4-6, symbolizes their real resurrection at the period 
to which that vision refers. 

These brief statements will enable the reader to see 
what the distinguishing principles are on which the 
symbolic prophecies are to be interpreted, and the 
manner in which they demonstrate that Christ is to 
come in person at the destruction of the powers de- 
noted by the wild beast and his armies, raise the holy 
dead, and enter on a literal reign on the earth. Those 
who desire a full exhibition of the subject, are referred 
to the Theological and Literary Journal, especially 
vol. i. pp. 177-256 ; vol. iii. 667-695 ; vol. vii. 177- 
217, 386-414, 575-591, and the Premium Essay on 
Prophetic Symbols by the Rev. E. Winthrop. 



PECULIARITIES OP THE TIME OF CHRIST^S REIGN. 47 



CHAPTER Y. 

THE REDEMPTION OF THE WORLD IS NOT TO TAKE PLACE UNDER THE 
PRESENT DISPENSATION. INSTEAD, IT IS A PERIOD OF TRIAL ; OF 
MIXED EXCITEMENTS TO EVIL AND GOOD, UNDER WHICH MEN ARE 
LEFT TO ACT OUT THEIR HEARTS AND SHOW THAT THEY ARE WHAT 
GOD IN THE WORK OF SALVATION CONTEMPLATES THEM. 

It is held by those v^ho deny Christ's personal 
reign on the earth, that the conversion of the nations 
and prevalence of righteousness and peace foretold 
by the prophets, are to take place under the present 
dispensation, and through the agencies and instru- 
mentalities that are now employed for the communi- 
cation of the gospel to men, and their deliverance 
from the thraldom of sin. That belief, however, is 
not only without authority from the sacred word, but 
is against its express and ample teachings, and be- 
speaks a mistaken notion both of what the condition 
and character of mankind are to be during the period 
to which those prophecies refer, and what the pecu- 
liar office is of the present dispensation. 

What is it then that is specially to distinguish the 
period of Christ's triumphant kingdom on the earth? 



48 PECULIARITIES OF THE TIME OF CHRIST'S REIGN. 

One of its peculiarities, is to be his personal presence 
and reign over it, and the reign with him of the risen 
and glorified saints. This is indeed denied by those 
who maintain that he is to reign only by influences 
of the Spirit, by providence and by laws. There are, 
however, other characteristics of the period that are 
scarcely less irreconcilable with their theory. All 
the nations are to be converted, Eev. xv. 4. All 
individuals are to be righteous, Isaiah Ix. 21. The 
earth is to be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as 
the waters cover the sea, Isaiah xi. 9. There are to 
be no apostates, therefore, no false teachers, no error- 
ists. Mankind are to be wholly freed from their sel- 
fish and ferocious passions ; for they are never to un- 
sheathe the sword against each other again, nor learn 
war any more, Isaiah ii. 4 ; Ix. 17, 18. There are to 
be no persecutors, no cruel oppressors, no conquering 
and enslaving tyrants ; no unjust laws, no unprinci- 
pled judges, no corrupt courts and legislatures ; no 
prisons crowded with victims ; no families and races 
held in bondage. Mankind are to be set absolutely 
free from all the corrupting and debasing dominations 
and influences by which they are now held in vassal- 
age to evil men and evil principles. Satan, who now 
has access to every mind, and exerts his malignant 
power to delude and tempt to sin, is then to be im- 
prisoned, and intercepted from the influences by 
which he rules in the hearts of men, and leads them 
to destruction. All the other elements of the curse 
also brought on the race by the fall, are to be re- 



CHARACTEH OF THE PEESENT DISPENSATION. 49 

Inoved. There is to be no more exhausting and 
blighting toil ; no more physical suffering ; no more 
sorrow ; no more tears ; no more death. Those 
dreadful ingredients which now fill each one's cup, 
and make the world a vale of grief and miseries, will 
be unknown, and the world be raised through the 
work of Christ to much such an exemption from 
evil in all its forms, as would forever have pre- 
vailed, had our first parents not transgressed, Eev. 
xxi. 3-7, 24-21 ; xxii. 1-5. And finally, the Spirit 
of God will be poured out on the hearts of man- 
kind universally with a fullness and power of 
which but faint exemplifications have hitherto been 
seen. That such a complete change in the condition 
of the world ; such an exemption of the whole human 
family from the infinite evils which revolt has drawn 
in its train, and the universal and unmitigated reign 
of which is one of the most conspicuous features of 
the present economy, should nevertheless take place 
under this very system which admits and perpetuates 
them, is clearly impossible. The present dispensa- 
tion does not contemplate such a deliverance of the 
race as the efi*ect of its agencies. It does not make 
any provision for it. It does not' employ any means 
for the production in its completeness of any one of the 
changes that are to be wrought in order to that re- 
demption. Thus, it does not carry the gospel eflec- 
tually to all nations and individuals. It does not re^ 
move all ignorance. It does not extirpate all evil 
affections. It does not imbue men universally with 



50 CHARACTER OF THE PRESENT DISPENSATION. 

love to God, and to each other. It does not raise the 
church, as a body, to perfect holiness ; nor even God's 
true children : but they are left to a war with their 
own evil affections, Avith a crowd of tempters among 
their fellow men, and with the great seducer to evil. 
False teachers and artful and deluding apostates are 
not intercepted from spreading their deadly errors ; 
tyrants, remorseless oppressors, and bloody warriors 
are not prevented from wreaking their cruel passions 
on the helpless. Satan is not arrested in his maUgnant 
plots, and restless efforts to drag men to destruction. 
And no means are provided to put an end to death, 
sickness, suffering, toil, want and tears. To suppose 
these and other effects which are to distinguish the 
era of Christ's reign, to take place under the present 
dispensation, is therefore in fact, to suppose the dis- 
pensation itself to be reversed : and become alto- 
gether a new one. 

But apart from such of these changes as must be 
wrought by the direct act of Omnipotence, not by 
physical instruments, or moral means ; such as the 
banishment of Satan and his legions, and the repeal 
of death, sickness, pain, toil, and sorrow, it is impos- 
sible that the renovation and sanctification of men 
universally should take place under the present dis- 
pensation, from the consideration that it is not its 
aim. The great and peculiar aim of the present ad- 
ministration is, on the one hand, to display the rights, 
the power, and the sovereignty of God in the work 
of saving, and not saving men ; and on the other 



CHARACTER OF THE PRESENT DISPENSATION. 51 

hand, to subject men to trials that cause them, whe- 
ther evil or good, to show forth their true characters. 
It is pre-eminently a dispensation of tests, of trials, 
in all the forms which our nature admits from want, 
dependence, suffering, the action and re-action on 
individuals and bodies of men of the good and evil 
passions and principles of the heart, false doctrines, 
idolatrous worships, unjust laws, evil examples, and 
finally, the ceaseless, subtle, and powerful agency of 
Satan and his hosts. It is a dispensation under which 
good and evil co-exist, display their characters in 
contrast with each other, maintain a fierce struggle, 
and show their natural fruits in all the forms they 
can assume under such conflicting influences. Chris- 
tianity does not exist alone in the world. It dwells 
in the midst of rival religions, the inventions of 
Satan and men who are his co-operators ; and their 
impious errors, their debasing principles, and all 
their vast array of deluding pomps and cheating pre- 
texts are allowed to exert their power on men as 
fully as the doctrine of Christ exerts itself to coun- 
teract, disenthrall, and transform them. The church 
of Christ does not stand alone as an or^canized bod 



fe^ 



IV 



striving to draw^ other men to itself, to make them 
partakers of its faith, and sharers in its hopes. It is 
surrounded on every hand by antagonist organiza- 
tions with their hierarchies of priests and teachers, 
their systems of doctrines, rites, and worship, and 
their agents of propagandism, each endeavoring to 
extend its sway, or at least to maintain its dominion 



52 THE PRESENT DISPENSATION 

over those whom it has ah'eady drawn to its vassal- 
age. Satan has a kingdom in the world as well as 
Christ, and he is allowed to exert his gigantic 
powers in maintaining it ; in drawing to his side 
vast crowds of evil men ; in making human govern- 
ments his instruments ; and in rendering learning, 
art, and wealth subservient to his cause ; and he has 
carried his conquests into the church itself, and 
drawn its great hierarchies of the East and the West 
to the most efficacious agencies they could exert in 
his behalf, by intermixing the worship of idols and 
demons with the worship of God, and substituting a 
mock sacrifice and atonement in the place of Christ's. 
Of the vast population of the globe, j^:)zr/'e Christiani- 
ty, after eighteen centuries, prevails even nominally, 
with only perhaps forty or fifty millions, and of those 
not probably over one or two millions can be regard- 
ed as true children of God. Evil is now as predomi- 
nant as it was fifteen centuries ago ; it has as deep a 
hold on the human mind ; it enters as largely into the 
institutions of society ; it has as numerous and pow- 
erful engines at work in sustaining and extending its 
sway, relatively to the evangelical church, as at for- 
mer periods ; and it derives as powerful aid for the 
spread and propagation of its empire, as pure Chris- 
tianity does, from the improvements of the age in the 
methods of communicating knowledge through the 
press, and the union of numbers in the profession 
and dissemination of opinions. 

The result of this administration, in wdiich the 



ONE OF TRIAL. 53 

gospel and its converts are in this manner left to 
maintain a struggle against opposing hosts of great 
power, subtlety", and zeal, thus necessarily is, what 
the experiment of eighteen hundred years has shown 
— the full test and exhibition of the opposite princi- 
ples and affections of the two parties — not the abso- 
lute victory of either. The true disciples of Christ 
have indeed through a large part of the long conflict 
been confined to a small number, compelled to fly 
from the presence of their enemies and hide them- 
selves in solitude, and would at many junctures, have 
been swept from the earth, had it not been for God^s 
extraordinary care. The issue of this vast trial is — 
not the redemption of the world, but only the proof 
and exemplification of its alienation, and hopeless 
vassalage to evil — not the triumph of the gospel in 
the extermination of false religions ; but its rejection 
for fifteen or sixteen centuries by nearly the whole 
church, as well as the world, and substitution in its 
place of idol and creature worship, and the degrada- 
tion of the nations that bear the Christian name, to 
the lowest depths of ignorance, debasement, and mis- 
ery. The very nature of the present administration 
thus wholly precludes both the general conversion of 
the nations, and the elevation of those who are renewed 
to the lofty purity and happiness that are to prevail 
in Christ^s victorious reign. It is as contradictory to 
it to expect that all mankind are to be renewed and 
sanctified under it, as it would be to expect that in a 
contest between vast hostile hosts armed with all the 



54 THE PRESENT DISPENSATION 

engines of death, no death, nor wounds, nor injuries 
would be inflicted ; or that when all the causes of 
pestilence and death are present in the great cities 
and carried by the winds to every hamlet and dwell- 
ing, no sickness will take place, but health prevail. 
As the destructive elements must be removed from 
the soil and air, in order that disease may be pre- 
vented, and a fresh and vigorous health be universal- 
ly enjoyed ; so the powerful agents and influences by 
which men are held in the vassalage of sin, must be 
removed, and the all transforming power of the Holy 
Spirit take unobstructed possession of their hearts, 
in order that they may be turned to righteousness 
and peace. 

But the removal of tne powerful tests to which 
they are now subjected ; the discontinuance of the 
trials by which they are led to act out their princi- 
ples and show what their dispositions are toward 
God, is inconsistent with the very end for which he 
instituted and maintains this administration. His 
aim is not now to sanctify all ; but to cause all to 
show what their hearts are, whether sanctified, or 
unsanctified ; in the same manner as in conducting 
the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan, it was not his 
aim to sanctify them all, and free them from excite- 
ments to evil ; but instead, to test their dispositions 
toward him, and cause them to show whether they 
were his friends or his foes. '' Thou shalt remember 
all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these 
forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to 



ONE OF TRIAL. 55 

prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whe- 
ther thou wouldst keep his commandments, or no ; 
and he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger, 
and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, 
neither did thy fathers know, that he might make 
thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but 
by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of ' 
the Lord doth man live,^^ Deut. viii. 2, 3. In like 
manner we are assured by Christ that '' the hour of 
temptation shall come,'' under the present economy, 
" upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the 
earth,'' Rev. iii. 10. They were all to be placed in 
conditions in which they would show by decisive acts, 
Avhether they chose his service or not ; and the issue 
has been at every stage of the trial a demonstration 
that the multitude will not have him to reign over 
them ; but pursue the broadway of sin which leads 
to destruction ; while only here and there one finds 
the narrow way to life. All the churches planted by 
the apostles soon declined in love, became distracted 
by parties, were led by heretical teachers into false 
doctrines, and went on from one degree of corrup- 
tion and apostacy to another, till they were swept 
from existence in a great measure by persecution, 
and the sword of the Goths, Saracens, and the Turks. 
The churches of Western Europe, most of which 
were formed after the death of Paul, soon sunk into 
an equal depth of ignorance, error, and superstition, 
and after the lapse of more than a thousand years, 
were but partially recalled to the knowledge and love 



56 THE PRESENT DISPENSATION 

of tlie truth at the Eeformation. The Lutheran and 
Reformed churches on the continent have also in a 
great measure apostatized from the Christian faith 
to pantheism and other false philosophies of the 
Hindoos and Greeks of the darkest ages of the 
world. The churches of Great Britain and this coun- 
try are rapidly plunging into similar errors, while the 
nations of Africa, Eastern Asia, and the isles of the 
Southern and Pacific seas remain almost undisturbed 
in the vassalage of false religions. The history of 
the decline, and apostacy of nations which have for 
a period embraced Christianity, and exemplified its 
powerful influence in their lives, is the history also 
of individual churches. Seasons of revival are always 
followed by seasons of apostacy, dissention, and world- 
liness. Periods distinguished by great and faithful 
teachers, are followed by periods in which seducers 
from the truth arise, and strike the church with a 
blight and decay that often continue for a series of 
generations. Every scene that has been distinguish- 
ed for the piety of its churches, the purity of their 
faith, and their steadfastness in the truth, has at a 
later period become the scene of unbelief, worldli- 
ness, and apostacy. All individuals also, as well as 
communities, are placed in conditions at every stage 
of their lives, in which they are led to display the 
true character of their affections toward God, and 
show whether they are fit, or unfit, for his kingdom. 
And the result of this experiment is, the demonstra- 
tion on a vast and appalling scale of the utter indis- 



ONE OF TRIAL. 57 

position of men spontaneously to return to God, and 
the hopelessness of their redemption unless it be 
under an administration in which the great agents 
that now tempt them to evil, shall be precluded from 
exerting on them their deluding and maddening pow- 
er, and the Spirit of God takes exclusive and absolute 
possession of their hearts. 

And this system of trial and discipline in which the 
evil and the good are thus tested and made to disclose 
themselves, is to continue till Christ comes. He ex- 
pressly told his disciples, that their life was to be one 
of disquiet, persecution and suffering. '' Behold the 
hour Cometh that ye shall be scattered every man to 
his own, and shall leave me alone. In the world ye 
shall have tribulation.^' John xvi. 32, 33. Paul also 
exhorted the believers at Antioch to continue in the 
faith, because " we must through much tribulation 
enter into the kingdom of God." Acts xiv. 22. He 
reminded the Thessalonians also, 'Hhat no man should 
be moved by these afflictions" — to which he and his 
fellow laborers were subjected by their enemies, — 
"for you yourselves know that we are appointed 
thereunto. For verily when we were with you, we 
told you before that we should suffer tribulation, even 
as it came to pass, and ye know." 1 Thess. iii. 3, 4. 
It was as much a part of the scheme of God's provi- 
dence that they should be opposed by hostile Jews 
and Gentiles, maligned, threatened, imprisoned, per- 
secuted, and subjected to the most violent and igno- 
minious inflictions ; as it was that thev should preach 

3* 



58 THE PRESENT DISPEXSATION 

the gospel, and gather those to whom the word was 
made efficacious by the Spirit into churches. And 
the office of this tribulation was to purify their hearts, 
to bring them to the most unreserved subjection of 
"themselves to God, and to cause them to show their 
faith, love, and devotedness to him in the most indu- 
bitable and emphatic forms. " We glory in tribula- 
tions, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and 
patience experience, and experience hope, and hope 
maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed 
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given 
to us." Eom. V. 3-5, and James i. 2-4. And this dis- 
cipline of trial and suffering is extended without ex- 
ception to all God's children, of every age, of every 
rank, and of every condition of life. " My son, despise 
not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when 
thou art rebuked of him ; for whom the Lord loveth 
he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he re- 
ceiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with 
you as w^ith sons : for what son is he whom the Father 
chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement 
— ivliereof aU are partakers — then are ye bastards, and 
not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our 
flesh which corrected us, and we gave them rever- 
ence ; shall we not rather be in subjection unto the 
Father of spirits and live ? For they verily for a 
few days chastened us after their own pleasure ; but 
he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his 
holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth 
to be joyous, but grievous ; nevertheless, afterward 



ONE OF TRIAL. 59 

it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto 
them who are exercised thereby.'^ Heb. xii. 5-11. — 
Subjection to calamities and sorrows, and correction 
by suffering, are thus exhibited as the lot of God's chil- 
dren under the present dispensation, as much as the 
gift to them of the Spirit, the teachings of the word, 
the supports of the promises, the protection of provi- 
dence, and life itself are ; and they are represented 
as an indispensable means to bring them to a proper 
subjection to him, and cause them to yield the fruits 
. of righteousness, which are requisite to their prepa- 
ration for his eternal kingdom. And these tribula- 
tions are to continue through every period of the 
present dispensation. It is foretold by Christ that 
the Israelites shall fall by the edge of the sword, and 
shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jeru- 
salem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the 
times of the Gentiles — the period of the fourth Gen- 
tile kingdom, Dan. vii. 7-28 — shall be fulfilled.'^ Luke 
xxi. 24. And that " immediately after the tribulation 
of those days'^ *' shall appear the sign of the Son of 
Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the 
earth see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of 
heaven with power and great glory.'' Matthew xxiv. 
29, 30. 

It is foreshown also that all the great obstacles to 
the conversion of men that lie out of themselves, all 
the occasions of temptation, all the powerful agencies 
by which they are prompted to evil, are to continue 
till Christ comes. Thus want, toil, pain, sorrow and 



60 THE PRESENT DISPENSATION 

death are to continue and reign as they now do, till 
Christ comes, and introduces a new dispensation. Rev. 
xxi. 1-5. Instead of a general conversion of the na- 
tions, Christ teaches in the parable of the tares, that 
till he comes, the evil are to continue intermixed 
with the good, as they were at the first promulgation 
of the gospel, and have been in every subsequent 
age. " He that soweth the good seed is the Son of 
Man ; the field is the world ; the good seed are the 
children of the kingdom : but the tares are the chil- 
dren of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them 
is the devil. The harvest is GwrD^eia tov aluvog the end 
of the age, and the reapers are the angels. As there- 
fore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so 
shall it be kv tj] Gwreletd tov aluvog at the end of the age. 
The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they 
shall gather out of his kingdom all that cause 
to stumble'^ — all that seduce and prompt to sin — 
^' and all that do iniquity ; and shall cast them into a 
furnace of fire ; there shall be wailing and gnashing 
of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the 
sun in the kingdom of their Father.^' Matt. xiii. 37- 
43. Christ thus foreshows in this most indubitable 
and impressive form that Satan is the sower of the 
children of the wicked among the children of the 
kingdom ; and that Trai^ra ra cr/vai^da^a^ he the great tempter 
to evil, and other subordinate seducers who betray 
men into sin, are not to be removed out of the world 
till the end of this age ; that the children of the 
wicked will, till that time, continue intermixed Vv^ith 



ONE OF TRIALS. 61 

the children of God ; that Christ is then to come, and 
cause his angels to separate the evil from the good ; 
and that thenceforth the righteous are to shine as the 
sun in the kingdom of their Father. Matt. xxiv. 31. 
Not only, therefore, is there to be no general conver- 
sion of the nations before the end of this age, but 
there is to be no exemption of them till that epoch, 
from the tempting presence of the great seducer, nor 
any deliverance of the children of the kingdom from 
the presence of the children of the wicked one. The 
great apostate powers of the church also, denoted by 
the eleventh horn of the fourth beast, Dan. vii., and 
the Man of Sin, 2 Thess. ii. 3-8, are to continue in 
activity down to the time of Christ's advent. It is 
not till the Son of Man comes in the clouds of heaven 
and receives from the Ancient of days the sceptre of 
the world that all nations may serve him, that that 
horn is to be judged, and given to the burning flame. 
It is at the brightness of Christ's coming, not at any 
earlier epoch, that the Man of Sin is to be consumed 
by the spirit of his mouth. Instead of gradually los- 
ing their power and sinking into lethargy as they 
approach their end, they are in their last stages to 
wreak their vengeance on the true worshippers, in a 
bloody persecution. The slaying of the witnesses by 
the beast, is immediately to precede the seventh 
trumpet, under which it is to bo cast into the lake of 
fire. Rev. xix. 20. The woman of Babylon is to bo 
drunk with the blood of the saints, when seated on 
the beast in the form in which it is to go to perdition, 



62 THE PRESEXT IS A DISPEXSATION OF TRIALS. 

Eev. xvii. 3-6. These predictions preclude, there- 
fore, the supposition that the world'is to be converted 
during the sway of those hostile powers. They are 
to go to destruction, not to salvation. Their armies 
are to be slain and given to the fowls of heaven ; not 
converted into worshippers who are to walk in the 
light of the New Jerusalem, and bring their honor 
and glory into it. 

This dispensation is thus to continue to its close 
to be one of trials, not of rest ; of conflicts with the 
powers of evil, not of exemption from them. 



THE AIM OF THE PRESENT ECONOMY. 63 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE AIM OF THE PRESENT ECONOMY IS TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR 
ANOTHER DISPENSATION UNDER WHICH SALVATION IS TO BE EX- 
TENDED TO ALL NATIONS AND THE WORLD REDEEMED. 

What then are the remoter ends which this dis- 
pensation contemplates ? If only a few compared to 
the vast multitudes of the race are to be saved under it ; 
if its chief aim is to try the hearts of men, both evil 
and good, show forth their character, and verify the 
great facts of the aKenation and incorrigibleness on 
the one hand of the unrenewed ; and of the love, sub- 
mission, and faith of the renovated on the other, on 
which God proceeds in the work of redemption — 
what are the ends which that verification on so vast 
a scale is to subserve ? What bearing has it on the 
salvation of the race under a future dispensation ? — 
What office is it to fill in God's administration over 
his vast empire of worlds ? 

These are questions which those who hold that 
there is to bo no redemptive dispensation after the 
present, seem not to have asked. The present econ- 
omy in relation to the future, is to them an inexplica- 



64 THE PRESENT DISPEXSATIOX 

ble enigma. There is on their theory no beneficent 
office tliat it can fill toward the human race itself. 
Ft can have no place as a preparative for another dis- 
pensation Tinder which the evils of the present shall 
be removed, and redemption extended to all the liv- 
ing population of the globe through an interminable 
round of ages. According to their views there is no 
reason v^hj, if it is the design of God to extend sal- 
vation to the nations at large, the gospel was not 
made known to them universally immediately after 
its first promulgation. That such countless hosts are 
left to perish, they regard as the work of sovereign- 
ty ; because God does not choose to make more than 
a small number partakers of salvation ; because he 
prefers to display his justice, rather than his grace ; 
and hold that if this economy is to exert any influence 
on his administration of the universe in future ages, 
it is to be by the preponderance which his justice in 
punishing men has, and is to have, over his mercy in 
saving them. According to them, therefore, the spec- 
tacle which his government presents, is full of dark- 
ness and awfulness, and answers in no respect to the 
delineation he has given in his word of his goodness, 
nor of the infinite riches of the wisdom and the love 
which the Bible everywhere represents as disj^layed 
in the work of Christ, and to be unfolded and veri- 
fied on a scale commensurate with the grandeur of 
his being and empire, through eternal ages. His 
" So loving the w^orld that he gave his only begotten 
Son to die, that whosoever belie veth on him should 



IS PREPARATIVE TO ANOTHER. 65 

not perish, bnt have everlasting life/' ends in his leav- 
ing nearly the whole that come into existence to 
perish without their even hearing that Christ was to 
die, or has died, for them. His goodness, his love, 
his mercifulness which are exhibited as his whole 
character, and as armed with infinite wisdom and 
power to accomplish their desires toward mxCn, in- 
stead of achieving or purposing their salva^tion on a 
scale proportionate to his attributes, and the great- 
ness and wonderfulness of the provision made for it 
in Christ's incarnation and death, are satisfied in a 
chief degree with making that display of themselves ; 
and with the exception of a small election, the count- 
less crowds of the human family are left to perish as 
helplessly, as they would had no method of salvation 
been devised for them. 

But these notions are altogether groundless, and 
bespeak an astonishing misconception of God, and 
the teachings of his word. The Scrij)tures declare 
in the most ample and emphatic manner, as we have 
shown, that the present dispensation is to termi- 
nate at the fall of the fourth kingdom symbolized, 
Dan. vii. 7-27, and is to be followed by another 
under Christ's personal reign, in which the work of 
redemption is to be extended to all people, nations, 
and tongues, and is to continue through eternal ages ; 
and they indicate that the present economy is pre- 
paratory to that, and that the exhibitions and verifi- 
cations that take place in it of the great truths of 
God's rights, of man's alienation, and of the indubi- 



66 THE PRESENT DISPENSATION 

table renovation of those whom God accepts as his 
children, are needful to the just understanding by 
men themselves and the universe of the work of sal- 
vation, the vindication of God in it, and ascription to 
him of the infinite righteousness, wisdom, and love, 
which it displays. That it is preparatory to the dis- 
pensation that is to follow, is apparent from God's 
perfections. It would be to impeach his wisdom to 
suppose that it occupies no such place in respect to 
that which is to succeed it ; that that dispensation 
might as well have been introduced at Christ's ascen- 
sion ; and that the conflicts of so long a series of ages, 
the perishing of so many generations of the unchris- 
tianized nations, the apostacy of the nominal church, 
and the^ trials, and sufferings, and sins of God's true 
people have been without any object, so far as the 
subsequent government of the world is concerned. 
The perfections of God make it certain that it has 
ends, in his future purposes toward the race, that 
are commensurate in their importance, with the 
greatness of the sins and miseries that take place 
under the present economy. 

What then are those ends? How is it that the 
great, the awful, and the glorious truths that are set 
forth and exemplified in such various forms and on 
so immense a scale, under the present sj^stem, are to 
prepare the way for a new dispensation under which 
the work of redemption is to be extended to all the 
nations of the earth, and continued through unending 
years ? The answer is, by verifying the facts on 



IS PREPARATIVE TO ANOTHER. 67 

which God proceeds in the salvation of men so ade- 
quately, as to enable the universe to discern and feel 
them in all their certainty and greatness, and make it 
sure that without any further exemplification of them, 
the salvation of mankind in the past, the present, and 
all future ages, will be justly understood, and the glory 
given to God for it that is due to his wisdom, recti- 
tude, and grace. 

It is plain that the exercise of grace by God to- 
ward revolters from his government, the restoration 
of sinners to holiness, their forgiveness, their justifi- 
cation, their adoption as children and exaltation to 
the most intimate relations to himself and the Re- 
deemer, must be measures of the utmost interest to 
other orders of intelligences, and must give^rise to a 
variety of questions of the greatest moment to God^s 
glory and their peace. Are mankind so utterly alien 
and lost as the work of redemption assumes and re- 
presents? Is there no disposition left in them spon- 
taneously to return to allegiance to God? Are those 
whom God renews and forgives truly reconciled to 
him ? Are they indisputably his friends, and ready 
to submit to any evil rather than disown him, and 
again join the ranks of the unsanctified ? Is their 
renovation and sanctification indubitably the work 
of his Spirit ? not of natural affections. Have they 
given in their conduct such evidences of their resto- 
ration to holiness that the universe can sec that God 
is justified in treating them as unalterably his chil- 
dren, and raising them to exalted stations in his 



68 THE PRESENT DISPENSATION 

kingdom? Is the whole of his achninistration toward 
them such, that they who are spectators arid fully 
comprehend all its steps, must see with the fullest 
conviction that it is marked by the wisdom, right- 
eousness, and grace which he represents, worthy of 
his perfections, and suited to raise all his holy sub- 
jects to a higher sense of his glory and a more rap- 
turous devotion to his service ? These are questions 
of the utmost significance to his obedient creatures 
in every part of his kingdom, and questions they 
must be furnished with the most ample means of an- 
swering in the affirmative — in order to their continu- 
ed confidence and love of him as all-perfect, and wor- 
thy of the full and fixed homage and submission which 
he requii-es. To leave them without information, 
would be to make it impossible that they should com- 
prehend his ways ; to leave them to perplexity and 
doubt, and to expose them to the danger of faltering 
in their allegiance. It is indubitably the part of 
righteousness and goodness, therefore, that God 
should make them acquainted with the reahty of all 
the great facts on which he proceeds in the work of 
salvation by so arranging his providence that men may 
present a public, visible, and full exemplification of 
them in their conduct, in every variety of condition, 
and under every form of influence that can serve to 
give expression and demonstration to the truth. — 
Vast crowds of men deny that they are in revolt 
from God, or have any need of a Saviour. Multi- 
tudes deny the necessity and reality of Christ's in- 



IS PEEPARATIYE TO ANOTHER. 69 

carnation, and reject salvation through him. Great 
numbers deny that there is any need of a renovation 
of the heart ; or that it is, or can be wrought by the 
Spirit of God, and maintain that men are entitled to 
acceptance on the ground of their merits. They 
deny also that God has a right to punish men for 
their sins ; and declare it to be impossible that he 
should consign his creatures for their offences here, 
to everlasting punishment hereafter. Satan also 
utters these and similar denials, and impeaches 
God^s justice, wisdom, and benevolence in all his 
measures both in the punishment, and in the for- 
giveness of men. It is not improbable that these 
denials are known to all the intelligent hosts of 
God's empire, and that a special necessity arises from 
that for the confutation of them in his administra- 
tion over the world. In order, indeed, that the work 
of redemption should be understood, it seems indis- 
pensable that sin should be seen in all the forms it 
naturally assumes in beings like men ; that there 
should be a full exemplification on the one hand of 
the alienation, debasement, and misery to which it 
reduces those in whom it reigns ; and that there 
should be a full exhibition also, on the other, of the 
reality of the restoration to holiness of those whom 
God renews, pardons, and crowns Avith life and glory, 
and proof by the severest tests of their unalterable 
allegiance, and meetness for the intimate relations to 
himself to which he is to exalt them in his kingdom. 
But suppose Adam and Eve and all their posterity 



70 THE PRESENT DISPENSATION 

had been regenerated immediately after their first 
transgression, hoAv could the universe or they them- 
selves have adequately seen what the state is into 
which revolt naturally brings creatures? How could 
they have discerned and realized what it is to be de- 
serted of God ; to be abandoned to the sway of Satan ; 
to be left to the unmitigated dominion of selfish and 
malignant affections ? There could then have been 
no exemplification to the eyes of creatures of what 
man is as a revolter ; nor what the brutish and fiend- 
ish shapes are which selfishness, enmity, and malice 
assume. Suppose all immediately on regeneration 
had been exempted from all tests of their afi'ections ; 
how, though they committed no sin, would it appear 
that it was not owing to the absence of temptation ? 
How could there be any decisive proofs of their in- 
flexible attachment to God ? How could there be 
any demonstration that they were meet for the inti- 
mate relationship to him to which they are to be ex- 
alted ? Or if there were, how could it be seen that 
their obedience was not the spontaneous work of their 
own minds, instead of the fruits of the renewing and 
sanctifying Spirit ? There is then a manifest neces- 
sity, in order that the work of redemption should be 
understood in its true character and greatness, that 
there should be such a manifestation in all its forms 
as is taking place under the present dispensation — 
of what man^s heart is — what his condition is as a 
sinner — what the change is which is wrought in 



IS PREPARATIVE TO ANOTHER. 71 

the redeemed, and who it is who accomplishes that 
change. 

It is clear also that in an administration under 
which such a manifestation of the heart of man takes 
place, it is requisite that God should exhibit his dis- 
pleasure at sin, by leaving it to bring forth its natu- 
ral fruits of blindness, insensibility, and misery ; and 
should punish it by retributive inflictions. To allow 
it to pass unchastised, would be to treat it as though 
it w^ere not the object of disapprobation ; to connect 
with it the blessings which are the proper fruits of 
holiness, would be to reward it as though it were ap- 
proved, and lead the universe to false views of his 
dispositions and purposes respecting it. 

The necessity then of such an exemplication of 
man and of God is apparent ; and it is taking place 
under the present administration on such a scale as 
to answer the ends of the divine government, and su- 
persede a need of its continuance in the ages that are 
to come. 

1. Thus, all nations, all bodies of men, all famihes, 
and all individuals, are put by the conditions in which 
they are placed, and the influences to which they are 
subjected, to a continual and severe trial of their 
aff*ections toward God, and one another, and led to 
show what their hearts are. That this is a fact, all 
are aware from consciousness, observation, and his- 
tory, and it is expressly taught in the Scriptures ; 
Deut. viii. 2, 3 ; Rev. iii. 10 ; James i. 12-15. 

2. When nations and individuals apostatize from 



72 THE PRESENT DISPEXSATION 

God, and pay tlieir homage to false deities, lie aban- 
dons them to the sway of their evil principles and 
passions, and leaves them to work out their natural 
fruits of impiety, debasement, and misery, and by 
that practical method confute themselves, and vindi- 
cate him. This is expressly taught Rom i. 20-32. 

3. In like manner when his own professed people 
apostatize and turn to a forbidden worship, he leaves 
them to the dominion of their false doctrines and un- 
sanctified passions, and allows them to pursue them 
to their natural results, and confute themselves by 
the wickedness which they generate. ^' The coming 
of the Man of Sin is after the working of Satan with 
all power and signs and lying wonders ; and with all 
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that per- 
ish : because they receive not the love of the truth, 
that they might be saved. And for this cause God 
shall send them strong delusion, that they may be- 
lieve a lie, that they all may be condemned, who be- 
lieve not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteous- 
ness.^' 2 Thess. ii. 9-12. 

4. He not only tries his true people by the ordinary 
calamities and sorrows of life, but he often allows 
their enemies to put them to the severest tests to 
Avhich they can be subjected, by inflicting on them 
the most cruel torture, and agonizing death, in order, 
if possible, to force them to apostatize. And millions 
have surrendered their property, their liberty, their 
families, and their lives, rather than swerve from 
their allegiance to him. 



IS PREPARATIVE TO ANOTHER. 73 

5. He testifies against the sins of men, whatever 
their character may be, by judgments, and gives the 
universe to see the abhorrence with which he regards 
them. Thus the destruction of the antediluvian 
world and of all the ancient nations, was because of 
their sins. All the evils that have been inflicted on 
the Israelites for three thousand years, have been in 
retribution of their rebellion against him, their revolt 
to idols, and their rejection of the Messiah. And all 
the immeasurable evils with which the nations of Eu- 
rope have been smitten during the last twenty years, 
and all they are yet to suffer in the last stages of the 
present dispensation, are represented in the Appca- 
lypse as poured from the vials of God^s wrath. 

6. He gives his children indubitable tokens of his 
favor, hears their prayers, grants them his Spirit, veri- 
fies his promises, supports them in their trials, and 
makes death itself, in its most awful forms, for his 
sake a victory. 

Under this administration — which stretches from 
the fall to Christ's second coming — an exemplification 
and proof of the great truths respecting God's rights, 
man's ruin, and the restoration to holiness of the re- 
deemed, are thus made on a scale as vast as the exi- 
gencies of the divine government require, so that no 
necessity will exist of their being carried further, but 
salvation may then be extended to all nations and 
individuals, through the long period denoted by the 
millennium without any danger of its being misap- 
prehended by any part of God's kingdom. 



74 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OP THE HEARTS OF MEN 



CHAPTER VII. 

V 

THE MANIFESTATIONS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN MADE OF THE 
HEARTS OF MEN, BOTH UNRENEWED AND RENEWED, UNDER THIS 
DISPENSATION, HAVE BEEN VERY GREAT AND DECISIVE. 

The exhibitions that have been made of the hearts 
of men, both evil and good, have been great and va- 
rious at every period of their history dov^n to the 
present time. 

Thus, we are told, that in the ages that immediately 
foUov^ed the fall, " the wickedness of man became 
great in the earth, and that every imagination of the 
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually ; that 
God looked upon the earth and behold it was cor- 
rupt ; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the 
earth, and the earth was filled with violence." (Gen 
esis vi. 5, 11, 12.) Whether the evil imaginations of 
the thoughts of their hearts embraced the invention 
and worship of false gods, we are not expressly told ; 
but the deep corruption of their manners, and the 
violence with which they filled the world, which are 
the usual consequences of a rejection of God, render 
it probable. The whole race advanced to such a 



AUE MADE UNDER THIS DISPENSATION. 75 

pitch of wickedness, that divine justice required that 
they should be swept to destruction by a deluge. — 
This universal apostasy from God, this excess of indi- 
vidual and social corruption and malevolence, formed 
a terrible exhibition of what the human heart is, in 
its estrangement from the Most High. They were 
not left in the ignorance of the Pagan nations of the 
present age. They did not derive their false system 
of religion and morals from a long line of ancestors. 
Their wickedness was not instilled into them by igno- 
rant parents, or an established priesthood, and en- 
forced by a powerful civil government, under the de- 
ceitful garb of a divine religion. It was all originated 
and matured by themselves, and amidst the clear 
light of a divine revelation, and the powerful re- 
straints of a knowledge of its guilt, solemn warnings 
from heaven, and the pious remonstrances and holy 
examples of patriarchs and prophets. God revealed 
himself openly to men in those ages, as we learn from 
his appearances to Adam, Cain, Enoch, and Noah, and 
announced his will to them in an audible voice. — 
They were made acquainted with the scheme of re- 
demption, and required to offer sacrifices in expres- 
sion of their faith in the Messiah whom the slaugh- 
tered victims typified. They enjoyed the presence, 
counsels, and examples of Adam, through more than 
half of the period to the flood ; and tlie instructions, 
probably, of a great array of eminent prophets down 
to their last years. Noah himself filled the office of 
a preacher of righteousness for at least a hundred and 



76 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HEARTS OF MEN 

twenty years before lie entered tlie ark. Yet, 
amidst all these eminent advantages ; against all 
these powerful restraints, they sank universally, it 
seems — with the exception of Noah and his family — 
to such an abyss of corruption ; they became inflamed, 
through all their grades, with such vile and mahgnant 
passions, as to render the divine forbearance any 
longer towards them inexpedient ; as to make it 
essential to the vindication of God's rights and glory, 
that he should storm on them his vengeance, and 
sweep them instantaneously to perdition. What an 
amazing proof of their alienation ! What an emphatic 
and terrible demonstration, that they were in open 
and unmitigated revolt! How clear must it have 
been to the witnessing universe, that they were 
indeed such enemies as the law of God and the work 
of redemption contemplate them ; and that the doom 
with which they were overwhelmed was their just 
due ! 

Equal proofs were given by the descendants of 
Noah within a brief period, of their alienation and 
debasement. Ere that patriarch died — three hundred 
and fifty years after the deluge, — every nation and 
tribe into which the race had become divided, had 
apostatized, there is reason to believe, to idol-worship. 
There were individuals and families, indeed, as 
Abram, Melchisedek, Job, and his friends, who re- 
tained the knowledge, and were worshippers of the 
true God, and they may have been numerous ; yet no 
traces appear on the sacred page, that any whole 



AEE MADE UNDER THIS DISPENSATION. 77 

people continued to be worshippers of Jehovah. The 
first uninspired histories also, and the earliest monu- 
ments of the ancient inhabitants of Egypt, Assyria, 
and India, exhibit them as idolaters. Not a trace ap- 
pears in any of their religions, at the earliest date to 
which our information extends, of a recognition of 
the true God. This is certainly astonishing ; as not 
only Noah lived till after that time, but Shem survived 
one hundred and fifty years longer, to the time of Ja- 
cob. So that very ample means must have been pos- 
sessed of a knowledge of Jehovah, and the method of 
redemption he had made known to Adam, and re- 
newed and confirmed to the holy patriarchs and pro- 
phets through all the long tract of ages that had in- 
tervened, to the division at Babel of the race into 
separate tribes. Whence can such a universal apos- 
tasy from Jehovah have sprung, except from an utter 
alienation of heart from him ? How could they have 
turned from him to the besotted homage of creatures, 
idols, and mere imaginary deities, had there not been 
an absolute extinction in their minds of righteous- 
ness, truth and wisdom ; had they not yielded them- 
selves to the unrestricted domination of the powers 
of darkness. 

The principal ancient nations of central and west- 
ern Asia, northern Africa, and eastern Europe, con- 
sisted of two classes : one that was under the domi- 
nation of absolute monarchs and a legalized priest- 
hood, who dictated to their subjects the religion they 
should exercise. The governments of the other 



78 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HEARTS OF MEN 

sprang in a measure from the people themselves, and 
their religion was accordingly the creation and ex- 
pression, in a large measure, of the popular sentiment 
and taste. As the rulers and priests of the despotic 
governments who dictated the religion of their sub- 
jects, were among the most talented and learned of 
their age, if they had had any proper notions of Je- 
hovah, and disposition to favor the exercise of a true 
religion, they might have exerted a powerful influ- 
ence in repressing ignorance, superstition, and idol- 
worship, and prompting their subjects to a recogni- 
tion of the true God. But no effort of that kind was 
ever made by them. Instead, the monarchs of Egypt, 
Assyria, Babylonia, and India, and their priests, gave 
their whole influence to sustain and spread their sev- 
eral systems of idolatry. In Egypt, where the belief 
in the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection 
of the body, appears to have been retained, and to 
have given birth to their splendid Mausolea, and 
their custom of embalming the dead, their worship 
was transferred from Jehovah to the beasts, birds, 
and reptiles, that peopled the land, the waters, and 
the air of that region ; and among them not a few of 
the most hideous and senseless were made objects of 
special adoration. Their fanes were crowded also 
with idols and pictures of idol deities, and the whole 
population were forced by the iron hand of power to 
pay their homage to those horrid shapes, sometimes 
living, more frequently probably dead, and blackened 
and deformed by the efforts of the embalmer to give 



ARE MADE UNDER THIS DISPENSATION. 79 

them a material immortality. Is it possible for crea- 
tures to offer a more awful affront to Jehovah their 
creator and upholder? Their paying this worship 
to the ox, the crocodile, the cat, the ibis, and the 
beetle, implied that their attributes were superior to 
his ; that their stations, relations, and agencies, in- 
vested them with higher rights, and rendered them 
more worthy of acknowledgment and trust. 

The despotic rulers of Assyria in like manner es- 
tablished a vast system of idolatry as the state reli- 
gion, in which bulls and lions with human heads ap- 
pear to have held the most conspicuous rank ; while 
in Babylonia, Nebuchadnezzar erected a gigantic 
image of gold, of a human shape, as the object of 
homage, and required his subjects on penalty of 
death to worship it ; and images, or material em- 
blems of some form, were the objects of homage to 
the native inhabitants of Palestine, Syria, the adja- 
cent parts of Asia Minor, and the vast regions that 
stretch eastward to the confines of India, for a long 
series of ages ; while in India itself, a different set 
of still more hideous and monster shapes were con- 
stituted deities, and a vast array of priests employed 
to pay them a worship of complicated and cruel rites. 
The despots who reigned over those populous and 
cultivated nations for two thousand years, instead of 
exerting their authority in repressing false religions, 
and prompting to the worship of Jehovah, gave their 
whole influence to the introduction and support of 
idolatry, forced their subjects to live as apostates 



80 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HEARTS OP MEN 

from Jeliovah, and made their cruel rites and debas- 
ing superstitions the means of reducing their people 
to the most abject vassalage to their power. 

The Greeks of Asia Minor, the islands of the Medi- 
terranean and eastern Europe, and the population of 
Italy, enjoyed a higher measure of freedom, and had 
a voice in the election of many of their rulers. Their 
governments were accordingly in a far larger degree 
the expression of the general will, and their religion 
the work of the popular sentiment. Their gods and 
religious rites were the gods and rites of the state, be- 
cause the general voice made them so. Yet those na- 
tions, left thus to their own tastes in a far higher de- 
gree than those of the great eastern empires, still 
apostatized as universally and as eagerly as they to 
the homage of idols. The loftiest geniuses of Greece, 
and the Greek colonies of the islands and shores of 
the Mediterranean, were for ages devoted to the fab- 
rication of marble and brazen deities, and the erection 
of temples for their residence. Their cities were 
thronged with gods not only in the temples, the halls 
of justice, the theatres, the stadia, and the markets, 
but in the streets, the gardens, and the houses, and 
their whole life was moulded and colored by their 
presence — thus showing in the most striking manner 
that no strength or subtlety of intellect, no refinement 
of taste, no literary culture, no measure of scientific 
knowledge, no perfection in the arts, no political 
freedom, nor any combination of them in their high- 
est forms, is any barrier to an apostasy from Jehovah 



ARE MADE UNDER THIS DISPENSATION. 81 

to idol- worship : that it is not ignorance and political 
degradation alone that prompt to it, but that the sub- 
tle, the learned, the witty, the refined in many forms, 
and the free, are borne as readily to the renunciation 
of the Creator and ruler of the universe, and the sub- 
stitution of stocks and stones that are graven by man^s 
art and device in his place, as the great nations of 
Asia and Africa whom the hand of despotism has 
kept in the most abject ignorance and vassalage. A 
similar display was likewise made by the population 
of Italy. 

And the whole of these nations continued their 
idolatry down to the age of the apostles. No experi- 
ence of the vanity of their worship, none of the ter- 
rible judgments with which they were overwhelmed 
by the Most High in punishment of their revolt from 
him — judgments from which they learned that their 
gods could not deliver them — contributed in the 
slightest degree to excite them to abandon them. 
So far from it, they continued to multiply their dei- 
ties and to sink to lower and lower depths of supersti- 
tion and debasement in their worship, till their false 
systems began to be superseded by the gospel. 

What an amazing exemplification of the human 
heart! Those nations comprised, with the excep- 
tion of the Hebrews, the whole, or nearly the whole 
that had risen above extreme barbarism during the 
twenty-three centuries that followed the deluge, and 
abounded with rulers, philosophers, poets, and histo- 
rians, of as great genius and as large cultivation in 

4* 



82 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HEARTS OF MEN 

their several spheres as have ever appeared in the 
world. Yet with scarce an exception, their great 
powers were devoted to the sanction and spread of 
idolatry — the worship of marble, metallic, or wooden 
statues ; the most hideous brutes and vilest reptiles ; 
or human monsters of lust, treachery, cruelty, and 
ambition, deified by the imagination, and invested 
with a sway over the afi'airs of men. Can the fancy 
conceive of more decisive and dreadful proofs that 
the race is in open revolt from Jehovah, and rejects 
him and his service with the most intense aversion ? 
If it be not, how is it that not a solitary dissentient 
from this monstrous impiety is heard through the 
lapse of so many ages ; or at least not one except it 
was at the risk of his life ? 

Their apostasy thus from Jehovah to the worship 
of false deities, in most of whom an animal and sex- 
ual nature was held to have a predominance, was ne- 
cessarily followed, as the apostle indicates, by God^s 
withdrawing from them, and giving them up to the 
unrestrained sway of the appetites which they impi- 
ously deified, and allowing them to sink to the lowest 
depths of impurity and debasement. The sexual pas- 
sion, in its most unlicensed and polluting forms, was 
not only formally sanctioned, but its gratification was a 
part of their homage to their deities ; their temples be- 
ing made the scenes of public and boundless prostitu- 
tion, and their priests and priestesses the chief actors 
in the horrid scenes. And from them the tide of law- 
lessness and corruption spread through all the inferior 



ARE MADE UNDEE THIS DISPENSATION. 83 

ranks, till the whole mass sank to the lowest abyss 
of pollution. The cities on the borders of the As- 
phaltine sea had reached such an extreme of wicked- 
ness in this relation, in the days of Abraham, that 
God swept them to destruction by a storm of fire and 
brimstone, and their site remains a monument at once 
of their guilt and his vengeance. Four hundred 
years later the Canaanites were destroyed, in a large 
measure, for their addiction to the same debasing sin. 
The Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the 
population of Syria preeminently, and of Asia Minor, 
were notorious for the profligacy of their manners ; 
and throughout the whole circuit of the Roman em- 
pire, in the age of the apostle, an almost total disso- 
lution of morals had taken place. 

And the unbridled reign of that debasing appetite 
gave birth also — as the Spirit of truth indicates it 
naturally must — to the whole brood of selfish and 
malign passions, and converted its vassals into ene- 
mies, scourges, and destroyers of each other. The 
great business of tlie chief nations from the days of 
Abraham to the birth of Christ, was war, slaughter, 
conquest, plunder, devastation, and vengeance. Dur- 
ing that period — ^besides the numerous wars between 
inferior kingdoms — five great empires rose, three in 
the east, and two in the west, that spread their con- 
quests over a large part of the world that was then 
in any degree civilized, and steeped it in the blood 
of its inhabitants. The people were held to be the 
absolute property of the monarchs, and were crushed 



84 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HEARTS OF MEN 

by an iron despotism ; millions on millions of the con- 
quered were dragged into a hopeless and cruel sla- 
very ; groans of misery and despair rose like a vast 
exhalation from every part of the earth ; and such 
things as safety, peace, gentleness, sympathy, love, 
benignity, were scarcely known to a human bosom. 

Such was the career of the Pagan nations. The 
apostasy of the Israelites, the chosen people, from 
Jehovah to the idols of their heathen neighbors, the 
depths of impiety and profligacy to which they sank, 
and the fierce and bloody wars in which, after their 
division into two kingdoms, they scourged and wasted 
each other, formed a still more awful exhibition of the 
human heart. 

Such was the result of the trial of mankind through 
four thousand years, to see whether when God clearly 
revealed himself to them through his works, and made 
himself known to them in many other modes, they 
would recognize and honor him, or would reject 
and turn from him to the worship of imaginary dei- 
ties ; and to show with what direful passions they 
would become inflamed, and to what awful forms and 
degrees of wickedness they would turn, when he in 
righteousness abandons them, because of their apos- 
tasy, to the sway of their own corrupt and malignant 
hearts. 

This is, indeed, but a faint picture compared to the 
dread reality. Yet slight and dim as it is, what a 
terrible proof it forms of man's alienation from God ! 
But to the celestial hosts who witnessed the whole 



ARE MADE UNDER THIS DISPENSATION. 85 

scene, and comprehended its fearful significance, how 
profound and overwhelming must the realization have 
been it produced, that the race are lost in a stern and 
remorseless enmity to Jehovah ! 

The exhibition made of the human heart under the 
gospel, in the opposition it met from Jews and Pa- 
gans at its promulgation, the dreadful perversion to 
which it was soon subjected, and the merciless per- 
secution by which the true worshippers were for many 
ages pursued by Pagans and false Christians, is equally 
demonstrative of its utter alienation from God. The 
dark picture given in the New Testament of the 
treatment Paul received as the great preacher of the 
glad tidings of salvation through Christ, may be taken 
as an exemplification of the reception the news of 
redemption met from the nations generally to whom 
it was first proclaimed. His life, through the twenty- 
six years of his labors, was one ceaseless conflict with 
passionate and malign opponents, a scene of perpetual 
peril from conspirators, assassins, mobs, and persecu- 
ting magistrates. He says of himself, " I am more 
a minister of Christ than others ; in labors more abun- 
dant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more fre- 
quent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received 
I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with 
rods ; once was I stoned ; in journeyings often, in 
perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine 
own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils 
in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the 
sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and 



86 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HEARTS OF MEN 

painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, 
in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. (2 Cor. xi. 
23-27.) And he at length fell a victim to the malice 
of his enemies, and was decapitated at Kome. And 
this, simply because of his fidelity to Christ ; not- 
withstanding his .apostleship was demonstrated by a 
vaster crowd of stupendous miracles — especially in 
the bestowment of spiritual gifts in connexion with 
his agency, — than ever authenicated the mission of 
any other messenger of God ; and although his con- 
duct was marked by the greatest uprightness, pru- 
dence, gentleness, nobleness, self-denial, and zeal for 
the well-being of those whom he addressed. The 
hatred and malice with which he was pursued, and 
finally martyred, are only paralleled by the infuriate 
rage with which the Son of God was rejected amidst 
the clearest demonstrations of his deity, maligned, 
mocked, scourged, and at length put to death on the 
cross. Could such a procedure towards an upright, 
wise, holy and benevolent, noble-hearted, miracle- 
working preacher of salvation, have been possible, 
had not those who thus outraged him been the most 
stern and implacable foes of God, and lawless and 
brutal enemies of his children ? 

The persecution of the disciples of Christ begun, 
by the Pagans in the apostle's life, was continued by 
them at intervals through more than two hundred 
and fifty years, and hundreds of thousands swept to 
the grave by the most ignominious and cruel deaths ; 
— starved in dungeons, torn with hot irons, burnt at 



ARE MADE UNDER THIS DISPENSATION. 87 

the stake, decapitated on the block, hung on the 
cross, thrown to wild beasts ; — and all the power of 
the Eoman empire was exerted to exterminate them 
from the earth. On the legalization and paganization 
of the church by Constantino, that monarch and a 
large portion of the hierarchy themselves became 
ferocious persecutors of the true worshippers ; and his 
successors on the Byzantine throne continued to bo 
such, with but short intervals, through more than a 
thousand years, till the extinction of that line by the 
Turks in 1453. The churches of Western Europe 
also apostatized at the same time as those of the 
East to the homage of saints, relics, and statues, con- 
verted the established religion into a horrid system 
of the most impious errors and debasing supersti- 
tions, and became also cruel and insatiable persecu- 
tors ; so that the Catholic churches themselves of 
the West and the East have been the greatest cor- 
rupters of the principles and morals of men the 
world has ever seen, the most impious blasphemers 
of God, and the most ferocious and remorseless op- 
pressors and murderers of his children, through more 
than twelve hundred years ; until in the East they 
have nearly sunk into extinction ; while in the West 
they have almost universally passed from even the 
nominal belief in Christianity into the most blank 
and impious atheism and pantheism, and sunk, ac- 
cording to the -usual law of God's providence, to the 
lowest depths of the most coarse and debasing im- 
morality, and become inflamed with the most lawless 



88 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HEARTS OF MEN 

and bloody passions. The comparatively small num- 
ber of true worshippers who still exist, especially on 
the continent, exist by the special care of God, in 
spite of the most gigantic efforts of the Papal church 
and the civil powers through a long series of ages to 
exterminate them. The victims of their malice who 
have perished by the sword, on the rack, and at the 
stake, wasted away in loathsome dungeons, or been 
worn out at the galley oar, amount to millions. And 
these murderers of the lambs of Christ's flock have 
been as ferocious in their passions towards each 
other, as they have towards them. The nations of 
Western Europe have been almost incessantly en- 
gaged for the last twelve hundred years in the most 
bloody and malignant wars on each other. There is 
scarce an extensive region in their cultivated do- 
mains that has not been a battle-scene, and many of 
the vales and plains of Italy, Germany, France, and 
Spain, have frequently been drenched with the blood 
of thousands. No other part of even this fallen world, 
probably, has been the theatre of such direful ambi- 
tion, hate, and revenge ; or resounded with such a 
vast train of sighs and groans, extorted by the wan- 
ton infliction of wounds and death by man on man. 

Such is, in brief, the result of the experiment that 
has been made of the heart of man through eighteen 
hundred years under the gospel. Can a more stu- 
pendous and appalling demonstration be conceived 
that he is indeed such a fallen, revolting, and incor- 
rigible being, as the word of God represents, and as 



ARE MADE UNDER THIS DISPEiSTSATION. 89 

the work of redemption assumes him to be ? that left 
to himself, he instantly apostatizes from God, and be- 
comes a debased and ferocious brute ; and that noth- 
ing but infinite power and grace can renew, trans- 
form, and save him ? 



90 THE TRIAL OF MEN NOW IS TO PREPARE THE WAY 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE OFFICE OF THIS TRIAL OF THE HEARTS OF MEN UNDER THE PRE- 
SENT DISPENSATION IS TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE SALVATION 
OF THE RACE AT LARGE THAT IS TO COME INTO EXISTENCE IN THE 
AGES THAT FOLLOW. 

Such is, in brief, the result of the experiment God 
has made of the human heart through near six thou- 
sand years ; and still more dreadful displays of it are 
to take place as this dispensation draws to a close, in 
the attempts which the civil powers and the man of 
sin will make to exterminate the true worshippers 
and followers of Christ. Can a more stupendous and 
appalling demonstration be conceived that man is in- 
deed such a fallen, revolting, and incorrigible being, 
as the word of God represents, and as the work of re- 
demption assumes him to be ? Can it be doubted that 
the worlds and beings that witness or are made acquaint- 
ed with it, must feel that it forms sufficient proof of 
the truths it exemplifies to cause the universe to 
know and realize from what it is that men are saved, 
even in those future ages of Christ's triumphant 
reign, when they are to be wholly freed from the pol- 



TO SAVE FUTURE GENERATIONS WITHOUT TRIAL. 91 

lution of sin and its cnrse ? And how indispensable to 
those who are then to be redeemed will these exem- 
plifications be ? How else could they so clearly see 
what the abyss of ruin is from which they are res- 
cued ; or realize the riches and sovereignty of the 
grace to which they owe the spotless existence, and 
the immeasurable glory and beatitude to which they 
are exalted ? But as they gaze on this awful specW 
cle and trace its countless myriads through all their 
history, they will see as clearly and feel with as deep 
a sensibility as those who are saved under the pre- 
sent dispensation, what the sin and misery are from 
which they are exempted, and what the riches and 
glory of the love, and wisdom, and might, are to 
which they owe their blissful stations in the king- 
dom of Christ. 

The office the present economy is to fill to that 
which is to follow it, is thus an explanation and a 
justification of it. It furnishes an ample reason for 
the administration God is now exercising, and invests 
those of his measures which would otherwise seem 
enshrouded in darkness, with the light of wisdom and 
grace. That he should overrule the rebellion and 
perishing of such crowds through a long series of 
ages in such a manner as to prepare the w^ay for his 
saving the race at large that thereafter comes into 
existence through eternal years, bespeaks a greatness 
and grandeur of goodness and skill that transcends 
the grasp of creatures, and must forever be contem- 
plated by them with wonder and adoration. It is to 



92 OP MEN NOW IS TO PEEP ARE THE WAY 

this that the apostle refers, Eom. xi. 32-36. On an- 
nouncing the great truth, that God in the present 
dispensation, concludes all, both Jews and Gentiles, 
in unbelief in order that hereafter at the coming of 
Christ, he may have mercy on all of both classes for- 
ever, he exclaims : '^ the depth of the riches both 
of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! How un- 
searchable are his judgments, and his ways past find- 
ing out ! For who hath known the mind of the Lord ; 
or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first 
given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him 
again ? For of him, and through him, and to him are 
all things ; to whom be glory forever." The wonder- 
fulness and glory of it so transcending the thoughts 
of creatures, lie thus in the fact that the blindness, 
unbelief, and perishing of Jews and Gentiles on so 
vast a scale under the present economy, are in order 
to God's having mercy upon all of both classes that 
come into being thereafter. Take away that office 
it is to fill in respect to the coming dispensation, and 
its riches of all comprehensive intelligence and wis- 
dom vanish ! But that subserviency which is to 
stretch through eternal ages, and contribute to the 
redemption of such countless millions of beings, in- 
vests it with a grandeur of love and skill that is 
worthy of Jehovah, and commensurate with the in- 
terests of his boundless kingdom. 

This office of the present administration, and the 
momentous influence it is to exert on God's future 
sway, impart an awful significance to the evil ac- 



TO SAVE FUTURE GENERATIONS WITHOUT TRIAL. 93 

tions of men under it, and a lofty dignity to their 
obedience. With what immeasurable grandeur it 
invests the humbleness, patience, meekness, submis- 
sion, love, faith, and steadfastness of the renewed, in 
their seasons of sharp trial, that they are to prepare 
the way for their pardon and acceptance, by the 
proofs they present that God acts according to truth 
in treating them as indubitably his children ! What 
an august place is assigned them among the means 
by which he is to accomplish his purposes of grace, 
that by the demonstrations they exhibit of his power, 
sovereignty, and love, and the reality of their recon- 
ciliation to him whom he accepts, they are to super- 
sede the necessity of subjecting the race in future 
ages to such trials, and render it practicable and 
wise to bestow salvation on all! This great truth 
was understood and felt by the disciples of the first 
age, and inspired them with fortitude under the af- 
flictions to which they were called. It was the com- 
mon sentiment of the apostles and early martyrs, that 
trials were to be welcomed, rather than shunned. — 
^* Count it all joy when ye fall into divers tempta- 
tions ; knowing that the trying of your faith work- 
eth patience. But let patience have her perfect 
work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting 
nothing." " Blessed is the man that endureth temp- 
tation ; for when he is tried, he shall receive the 
crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them 
that love him." 



94 THE AIM OF CHRIST^S REIGN IS TO UNITE 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE AIM OF Christ's reign on the throne of heaven, the 

UNION OF ALL THE UNFALLEN ORBS WITH THIS REDEEMED WORLD 
IN ONE EMPIRE UNDER HIS SWAY. 

The administration Christ is now exercising on the 
throne of heaven, is designed, we are taught, to make 
the inhabitants of other worlds acquainted with his 
work as Eedeemer, and is preparatory to a new dis- 
pensation over this, under which all nations are to be 
redeemed. 

The great purpose God is pursuing, the Scriptures 
represent, is to bring the whole universe of intelligent 
creatures — with the exception of the fallen angels, 
and those of our race who shall be lost — into one har- 
monious and perfect empire under the sceptre of 
Christ. Those of the unfallen worlds are placed under 
his rule as Jehovah-man, and led to know and ac- 
knowledge him in that nature, and yield a willing and 
joyous obedience to his sway, and glorify him in his 
work as the Redeemer of men ; and those of this 
world also are on his institution of a new dispensation, 
to be raised to a level in holiness with those unfallen 



THE UNFALLEN AND REDEEMED IN ONE EMPIRE. 95 

worlds, and do his will thereafter on earth as it is 
done in heaven. 

Thus Paul says, " He has made known to us the 
mystery of his will, according to his own good plea- 
sure which he purposed in himself, — in the economy, 
(peculiar plan of administration) of the fulness of the 
times, to bring together again in one, (empire) all in 
Christ — those in the heavens, and those upon the 
earth/' The all in the heavens and upon the earth, 
are all the intelligent inhabitants of those worlds, to 
the exclusion of the fallen angels and the lost of man- 
kind, who will then no longer be inhabitants either 
of heaven or of earth. This is seen from their dis- 
crimination from the heavens — the heavenly orbs, in 
which the one class resides, and from the earth upon 
which the other dwells. It is shown moreover by the 
explanation which is given Colos. i. 20, of the nature 
of this union of the all in heaven in one under Christ, 
as a conciliation of them to God under him ; that is, 
bringing them to a filial acquiescence in his rule over 
them in his human nature ; and Phil. ii. 6-11, where 
it is exhibited as the bending of every knee of those 
in the heavens and on earth and under the earth, and 
the confession of every tongue — which are acts of in- 
telligences — that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of 
God the Father. Their being all reunited with the 
inhabitants of the earth in one, therefore, will be their 
union in one harmonious empire under Christ, in 
which all will recognize him in his complex nature, 
and in his authority as Messiah, as their rightful King, 



96 THE AIM OF CHRIST^S REIGN IS TO UNITE 

tlio just object of their homage and allegiance, and will 
according to their several natures and spheres render 
him a glad, adoring, and perfect obedience. 

The union of the inhabitants of the lieavenly ivorlds 
under Christ, is accomplished by his exaltation to the 
throne of heaven, and investiture with supreme au- 
thority over them. Thus, the apostle says that on his 
rising from the dead, the Father " set him at his own 
right hand in the heavenly worlds ; far above all 
principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and 
every name that is named, not only in this age, but 
also in that which is to come, and hath put all under 
his feet, and given him to be head over all to the 
church, which is his body, the fulness of him that 
fiUeth all in all.'' Eph. i. 20-23. By this exaltation to 
supreme authority over them, they are brought into 
the most intimate connection with him m his twofold 
nature and office as Redeemer ; made acquainted 
with his work as such, and called to recognize and 
serve him as their rightful Lord. This subjection to 
him is not a change from revolt to obedience, but 
simply a change in their relations, and a recognition 
of him in his new relations to them, as Jehovah incar- 
nate, the Redeemer of mankind, their Creator and 
rightful ruler, acquiescence in his sway in that char- 
acter, and glorification of him therefore as having the 
rights which he assumes in the work of redemption, 
and as accomplishing the ends at which he aims in it. 
It was, accordingly, because of his incarnation and 
death in behalf of mankind, we are taught, that he is 



THE UNF ALLEN AND REDEEMED IN ONE EMPIRE. 97 

exalted to supreme dominion over them ; and its ob- 
ject is to bring them to a knowledge and acknowl- 
edgment of him in his union to man and work as Re- 
deemer, and love and adoration of him in that office. 
Though " being in the form of God, and thinking it 
no violent grasping — (no usurpation of the divine 
rights) to be equal with God, he yet made himself of 
no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a 
servant, and was made in the likeness of men ; and 
being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, 
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the 
cross : Wherefore, (because of this assumption of man's 
nature and death for his redemption,) God has high- 
ly exalted him, and given him a name above every 
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should 
bow of those of the heavens, and of those of the earth, 
and of those under the earth, and every tongue should 
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God 
the Father.'' Phil. ii. 5-11. The very object of his 
investiture with the sceptre of the heavenly worlds 
thus is, to bring all the orders of intelligent beings 
that dwell in them to a full knowledge and acknowl- 
edgment of him the incarnate Jehovah as their right- 
ful Lord, as possessing the prerogatives he claims, 
and as adequate to the work he undertakes. And as 
their recognition of him is willing, filial, and adoring ; 
a glad acquiescence in his rule, and approval of his 
work as Saviour, it is that union in one under him as 
their head that is expressed Eph. i. 9-10, by their 

being in the fulness of the times gathered together, 

5 



98 THE AIM OF CHRIST^S REIG-N IS TO UNITE 

with mankind upon tlie earth, into one empire under 
him. The whole universe of God^s holy subjects in 
the heavenfy worlds, is thus brought into the most 
intimate relations to him, and made acquainted with 
his deity, his adequacy to his oflBce, and the right- 
eousness, wisdom, and grace of his work, so as to 
yield an admiring and rapturous submission to his 
sway, and justify and glorify the Father for appoint- 
ing him to the work. 

This union of the inhabitants of the heavenly 
worlds, with those of the earth, in one empire under 
Christ, is exhibited in Colossians as a conciliation, 
and has been thought by some to indicate that a de- 
gree of alienation from God, or doubt of the rectitude 
and wisdom of his ways, exists in the orders of the 
heavenly orbs. But that is an error. The language 
of the passage is, " For it pleased God that in him all 
fulness should dwell, and through him to reconcile all 
unto himself (bring them to a knowledge of him as the 
Eedeemer, acquiescence in his work as such, and ado- 
ration and love of him for it,) he having made peace 
through the blood of his cross — through him, whether 
those upon the earth, or those in the heavenly worlds. '' 
Chap. i. 19, 20. This conciliation is plainly not a 
change of character in the heavenly hosts, but simply 
of relations, and a filial acquiescence in the new ad- 
ministration under which they are placed ; an adoring 
recognition of its rightfulness and beneficence, and a 
glorification of Christ and the Father for the wisdom 
and goodness which it displays. The verb translated 



THE UNFALLEN AND REDEEMED IN ONE EMPIRE. 99 

reconcile, does not necessarily mean a change from 
alienation to love, from revolt to obedience, but sim- 
ply a change from one state, or relationship, to ano- 
ther ; and only denotes in this passage, so far as re- 
spects the inhabitants of the heavenly worlds, that they 
assent with joyous and adoring affections to the new 
relations in which they are placed by the exaltation 
of Christ to supreme authority over them. And as 
the elevation of the Word in union with the man 
Christ Jesus, to that station, investiture with all the 
rights of the deity, and requirement that all the or- 
ders of intelligences should worship him in that union 
with man, and yield obedience to his sceptre, are 
among the greatest and most wondrous acts of the 
divine administration towards creatures ; so their 
bending in submission to him in that nature, worship- 
ping him as Creator and Lord, and glorifying the 
Father for investing him with authority over them, 
are the greatest and most wonderful acts of allegiance 
that holy creatures can be conceived to render ; and 
are lofty in beauty and resplendence in them, as well 
as refulgent in the glory they reflect on God. 

This union of the inhabitants of the heavenly 
worlds in one empire under Christ took place doubt- 
less immediately after his ascension, A knowledge 
of his investiture with supreme authority over them, 
must have been then communicated to them, and of 
the new and peculiar duties to which they were call- 
ed by the new relations in which they were placed 
to him. It was shown indeed to the ani2:clic orders 



100 THE AIM OF CHRIST^S REIGN IS TO UNITE 

who were in the divine presence by his exaltation it- 
self ; and doubtless by revelation also. It must have 
been made known also to all the other orders of the 
heavenly orbs, either by revelation, by the ministry 
of angels, or by the appearance of Christ himself to 
them, and not improbably in each of those ways. It 
may have been first by revelation, as it was first 
made known to the apostles and prophets, after 
Christ^s ascension. Additional information respect- 
ing it and the events that have taken place in the 
heavenly realms and on the earth, may have been 
communicated from time to time by messengers ; as 
angels have often been sent to our world to unfold 
the purposes of God, and give instruction respecting 
his will. But Christ has not improbably revealed 
himself to the inhabitants of his innumerable worlds, 
allowed them to behold him in his incarnate and glo- 
rified nature, received from them a direct homage, 
and given them to meet his smile, and hear the ac- 
cents of acceptance and blessing from his lips. And 
this vast work, requiring ages for its full accomplish- 
ment, rather than merely a few years, may be one 
reason that so long a period has intervened between 
his ascension, and his return to the earth w^hen he is 
to bring the family of man also into a like perfect 
and blissful subjection to his sway. 

That his exaltation to the throne of heaven, and 
conciliation of all the orders of unfallen creatures to 
his sceptre, is intimately connected with and prepar- 
atory to the full reconciliation of the inhabitants of 



THE UNF ALLEN AND REDEEMED IN ONE EMPIRE. 101 

our world to him, is also clearly revealed in these and 
other passages. For the intelligent beings who are 
to be brought together in one empire under him, 
consist of two divisions : first, those in the heavenly 
orbs ; and second, those that dwell on the earth ; in- 
cluding all intelligences in the universe therefore, ex- 
cept the fallen angels, and the lost of mankind, who 
are not comprised in those divisions, inasmuch as at 
the time to which this passage, Eph. i. 9, 10, refers, 
they will not be inhabitants either of the heavenly 
worlds, or of the earth. The time when the reconcili- 
ation of the inhabitants of the earth is to be accom- 
plished, so that they will become a part of his obedi- 
ent empire, is still future, and future to the present 
dispensation over men ; for it is to take place under 
the administration of the fulness of the times ; and 
that is to follow the present dispensation over this 
world, which is the time of the Gentiles, and dur- 
ing which Israel continues in blindness and under 
the curse of exile and dispersion. Most of the Gen- 
tile nations remain unapprized of the gospel and pay 
their worship to idols ; and the church itself has in a 
great measure apostatized from Christ, instituted a 
new sacrifice for sin, and pays its homage to crea- 
tures. But the accession of the inhabitants of the 
earth to Christ's obedient empire is to take place after 
the blindness of Israel, and the apostasy of the Gen- 
tiles have passed, and he comes the second time unto 
salvation ; for it is then that he is to turn away un- 
godliness from Jacob, and all Israel sliall bo saved ; 



102 THE AIM OF Christ's reign is to unite 

and then that the fulness of the Gentiles shall come 
in, and he shall have mercy upon all, Romans xi. 25- 
32 ; Amos ix. 8-15 ; Acts xv. 14-18. 

What the restoration of the inhabitants of the 
earth to God's holy empire under Christ is to be, is 
more fully explained by Paul, Eph. iii. 2-11, " Ye 
have heard of the dispensation (scheme of adminis- 
tration) of the grace of God which is given (commu- 
nicated) to me to you-ward ; that by revelation he 
made known unto me the mystery, as I have already 
written briefly (chap. i. 8-11,) whereby when j^e read, 
ye may see my knowledge (that it is exact and com- 
prehensive) of the mystery of Christ, which in other 
ages w^as not made known unto the sons of men as it 
is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets 
by the Spirit, (namely,) that the Gentiles should he fel- 
loio heirs and of the same lody, andfelloiu j^artaJcers of 
the jpromise in Christ through the gosjoel ; whereof I 
was made a minister, that I should preach among the 
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and make 
all men see what the economy (the administrative 
plan,) of the mystery is which from the beginning of 
the world has been hid in God, who created all in 
Christ, to the intent that noio unto the principalities 
and the powers in the heavenly worlds might be 
known through the church, the manifold wisdom of 
God according to the eternal purpose which he pur- 
posed in Christ.'^ The plan which had not before 
been revealed of Christ's administration over this 
world in the fulness of the times, is thus stated to be 



THE UNFALLEN AND REDEEMED IN ONE EMPIRE. 103 

the plan of making the Gentiles fellow heirSj and fel- 
low partakers of the promise in Christ through the 
gospel. Who then are those with whom they are to 
be fellow heirs ; and what are the promises of which 
they are to be fellow partakers ? The answer is — It 
is with the Israelites that they are to be fellow heirs, 
and of the promises made to them in Christ through 
the gospel that they are to be fellow partakers ; and 
thence it is by their becoming fellow heirs and par- 
takers with them of the blessings promised them in 
Christ, that the whole inhabitants of the earth are to 
be restored from their alienation, brought into perfect 
subjection to Christ, and incorporated in the one 
perfect empire under him. 

What then are the peculiar blessings promised to 
the Israelites, of which they are thus to become par- 
takers? 1. The first great promise is, that God vv^ill 
be their God, and they shall be his people. '' The 
Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the 
Almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect, 
and I will establish my covenant between me and 
thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, 
for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee 
and thy seed after thee." Genesis xvii. 1, 7. "And 
ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.'' Jer- 
emiah XXX. 22. 2. That Christ should at length ap- 
pear and reign over them as their King. " Unto us 
a child is born, unto us a son is given ; and tlie gov- 
ernment shall be upon his slioulder, and liis namo 
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mi^'litv 



104 THE AIM OF Christ's reign is to unite 

God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of 
the increase of his government and peace there shall be 
no end upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, 
to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with 
justice from henceforth even for ever more/' Isaiah 
ix. 6, 7 ; Jeremiah xxiii. 5, 6 ; xxxiii. 14-18. 3. That 
under his reign over them they should all be perfectlj 
sanctified and crowned with safety and happiness. — 
" This is the covenant that I will make w^ith the house 
of Israel. After those days — (the days of their dis- 
persion) — saith the Lord, I will put my law in their 
inward parts, and write it in their hearts ; and w^U 
be their God, and they shall be my people. And they 
shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every 
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord ; for they 
shall all know me, from the least of them unto the great- 
est of them, saith the Lord ; for I will forgive their 
iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." — 
Jeremiah xxxi. 33, 34 ; Isaiah xi. 9 ; Ixv. 17-25. 4. 
That they should continue in holiness and happiness 
under his reign through an endless series of genera- 
tions. " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, 
and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness, and 
from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart 
also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within 
you ; and I will take away the stony heart out of your 
flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will 
put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in 
nay statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do 
them. And ye shall dwell in the land which I gave 



THE UNF ALLEN AND REDEEMED IN ONE EMPIRE. 105 

to your fathers ; and ye shall be my people, and I will 
be your God." Ezek. xxxvi. 24-28. " And they shall 
dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob, my 
servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt, and they 
shall dwell therein, tliey^ and their children, and their 
children's children forever ; and my servant David 
shall be their prince forever." Ezek. xxxvii. 25, 20- 
24 ; 26-28. These are the great blessings that were 
promised to the Israelites in the glad tidings in 
Christ, and they are the blessings therefore of which 
the Gentiles are to be fellow heirs, and fellow parta- 
kers under him. That they are to share in them 
under his reign is, accordingly, clearly taught in other 
passages in the New Testament. Thus, 1st, that the 
Gentiles are to be his- people and he is to be their 
God, is foreshown Rev. xxi. 3. On the descent of 
the New Jerusalem from heaven, a great voice was 
heard, saying, " Behold the tabernacle of God is f^era 
TQv dvOp^TTov, with mankind, and he will dwell with 
them, and they shall be his people, and he will be 
their God.'' 2d. Christ is to reign over them as 
their King. " And the seventh angel sounded, and 
there were great voices in heaven, saying, The king- 
dom of this world is become our Lord's and his 
Christ's, and he shall reign through the ages of ages." 
Eev. xi. 15. 3. They are all to be perfectly holy and 
blessed. " Who should not fear thee, Lord, and 
glorify thy name ? For thou only art holy ; for all 
the nations shall come and worship before thee, be- 
cause thy judgments are made manifest." Rev. xv. 4. 



106 THE AIM OF Christ's reign is to unite 

" And the nations shall walk in the light of it, (the 
New Jerusalem), and the kings of the earth bring 
their glory and honor into it. And the gates of it 
shall not be shut at all by day (night indeed there is 
none there), and they shall bring the glory and the 
honor of the nations into it.'' Rev. xxi. 24-26. 4. — 
And they are to continue holy and happy under his 
reign like the Israelites, generation after generation 
forever. " God will dwell with them, and they shall 
be his people, and God himself shall be with them, 
their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from 
their eyes : and there shall be no more death, neither 
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more 
pain : for the former things are passed away. And 
he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all 
things new.'' Rev. xxi. 3-5. " And he showed me a 
pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding 
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the 
midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river 
was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner 
of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month : and the 
leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 
And there shall be no more curse : but the throne of 
God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants 
shall serve him. And they shall see his face, and his 
name shall be in their foreheads, and they shall reign 
forever and ever." Rev. xxii. 1-5. And Paul indi- 
cates in connection with the passage we have quoted 
in respect to the purpose of God thus to make the 
Gentiles fellow heirs with the Israelites of the pro- 



THE UNF ALLEN AND REDEEMED IN ONE EMPIRE. 107 

raises made to them, that the glory of redemption is to 
redonnd to God in the church through all the gener- 
tions of the age of the ages," in which he exhibits the 
church as to continue in successive generations for- 
ever. " Now unto him who is able to do exceedingly- 
above all which we ask or think, according to the 
power which worketh in us ; to him be glory in the 
church by Christ Jesus through all the generations 
of the age of ages, amen." Eph. iii. 20, 21. 

Of these great blessings then the Gentiles are to 
be fellow heirs and partakers with the Israelites ; and 
it is by their being together thus freed from sin and 
its penalties, and brought into one community of per- 
fectly redeemed persons that the inhabitants of the 
earth are to be reconciled to God, and admitted into 
the holy and happy empire under Christ, into which 
are to be gathered all the other orders of obedient 
creatures in the universe. 

Such is the great scheme of administration which 
Paul calls the mystery of God's purpose, by which, 
on the one side, all the hosts of the unfallen worlds 
are to become the willing, joyous, and adoring subjects 
of Christ's sceptre ; and the inhabitants of this sphere, 
on the other, are to be restored from their fallen con- 
dition to perfect holiness and blessedness under his 
reign over them, and the race again admitted as fit 
members of his holy empire. No wonder the apostle 
contemplated this great scheme of the redemption of 
our world with such fervid interest ! No wonder that 
he regarded the revelation of it, after having been 



108 THE AIM OF CHRIST IS TO UNITE ALL THE HOLY. 

hid in God from eternity, as forming a new era in the 
history of the earth and of heaven ! No wonder that 
he felt that the knowledge of it is essential to a just 
understanding of Christ's work : that it is only in the 
light of it, that the riches of the wisdom, power, and 
grace which it displays can be seen ; and that a gleam 
is obtained of the boundlessness and grandeur of the 
results that are to spring from it. 

It is thus seen that the administration Christ is now 
exercising on the throne of heaven, has a special re- 
ference to other orders of intelligences, and is prepa- 
ratory to a new dispensation over this world, under 
which he is to reign here in person, restore the race 
from its fallen condition to holiness and happiness, 
and admit it to a place in the spotless and blissful 
empire in which his holy subjects are to be united. 



THE ORDERS OF INTELLIGENCES INNUMERABLE. 109 



CHAPTER X. 

THE NUMBERLESSNESS OF RANKS AND HOSTS OVER WHOM CHRIST IS 
EXALTED ; THE WHOLE CIRCUIT OF THE ORBS PEOPLED BY INTEIr 
LIGENCES. 

Are the inhabitants of the heavenly orbs, however, 
of such rank and numbers as to invest the exaltation 
of Christ over them with high importance ? Is there 
reason to believe that the worlds generally that wheel 
through the boundless realms of space, are the abodes 
of intelligent beings ? This has of late been denied, 
and under the pretext of science ; but against the 
dictates of reason and the teachings of the divine 
word. Though the Scriptures do not give us any 
minute information respecting the natures and num- 
bers of the intelligences that inhabit other parts of 
the universe, they teach expressly and abundantly 
that there are numerous orders of intelligences, be- 
sides those of our race, and indicate that the orbs 
generally are occupied by them. 

Thus God in his answer to Job out of the whirl- 
wind, represents that there wore stars that Averc oc- 
cupied by intelligences, and sons of God, the tenants 



110 THE RANKS AND HOSTS OF INTELLIGENCES 

probably of other worlds, that had a knowledge of 
the creation of our earth, that sang adoration and 
thanksgiving to him for it, and probably a joyous 
welcome to the pair who were made possessors of the 
new-formed sphere. *^ Where wast thou when I laid 
the foundations of the earth ? Declare, if thou hast 
understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, 
if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line 
upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof 
fastened? Or who laid the corner-stone thereof; 
when the morning stars sang together, and all the 
sons of God shouted for joy?*' Chap, xxxviii. 4-7. 
The morning stars were the stars in the eastern sky 
when at the fiat of the Almighty the earth leaped 
into being, and met the first flash of the sun's rays. 
They were a vast host then, whether they belonged 
to our cloud of worlds, or to others stationed in the 
distant realms of space ; and were peopled with in- 
telligences who either witnessed, or were made ac- 
quainted with the birth of the new group of worlds 
to which our earth belongs. There were sons of God 
also, intelligences of different and perhaps inferior 
orders, to whom information of the creation of our 
heavens and earth may have been communicated by 
angelic messengers, and they also through all their 
ranks shouted for joy. This passage breathed from 
the lips of Jehovah himself, thus announces to us 
that there was a material universe in existence ante- 
rior to the creation of our heavens and earth, and 
occupied by intelligences of various orders ; that this 



IN THE UNIVERSE INNUMERABLE. Ill 

new creation was made known to them, and that they 
sang homage to the Almighty for the work, and shout- 
ed congratulation to the happy beings formed in his 
image who were to be its tenants ; and it implies 
that the number of those heavenly intelligences was 
immense. 

That there were other intelligences besides our 
first parents, both sinful and holy, in existence at the 
fall, is shown by the fact that it was through the 
agency of the great fallen arch-angel that Eve was 
betrayed into sin ; and that holy beings of an order 
called Cherubim were stationed at the gate of Para- 
dise on the expulsion of Adam and Eve to prevent 
their return there. 

Of the existence of angelic intelligences, and of 
their frequent visits to our world on offices of mercy 
or judgment, and agencies in the administration of 
providence, we have ample testimonies in the Scrip- 
tures. They appeared to Abraham. They delivered 
Lot out of Sodom. A host of them met Jacob on his 
return from Padanaram. An angel destroyed tho 
people of Israel with a pestilence, because of David's 
sin in numbering them. An angel destroyed tho 
army of Senacherib. When the king of Syria at- 
tempted to seize Elisha, a host of horses and clmriots 
of fire filled the mountains around him ; and the chari- 
ots of God, we are told by the Psalmist, are twenty 
thousand, and thousands of angels ; and they encamp 
round about them that fear him, and deliver them out 
of their troubles. An an^el announced to Mary that 



112 THE RANKS AND HOSTS OF INTELLIGENCES 

she should be the mother of the Saviour ; and a host 
of angels sang his birth to the shepherds. Angels 
ministered unto him after his temptation ; an angel 
strengthened him in his agony in the garden ; an 
angel rolled the stone from the sepulchre at his re- 
surrection ; and angels at his ascension proclaimed 
his return from heaven in like manner to the earth 
at a future time. 

That there not only are angels, but of various 
ranks, and great numbers, is amply taught in the 
Bible. Thus they are distinguished by the different 
titles of principalities, authorities, powers, dominions, 
and thrones, Eph. i. 20 ; Col. i. 16; which denote that 
they are of different orders and spheres of service. 
And that their hosts are immense is indicated by the 
vision of the Ancient of days, Dan. vii. 9, 10, and of 
the Father and the Lamb, Rev. v. In the former a 
thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten 
thousands ten-thousands, that is a myriad of myriads, 
stood before him. These numbers are indefinite, in- 
asmuch as the number of the thousands that were re- 
peated a thousand times, and the number of myriads 
that were repeated a myriad of times are not speci- 
fied. They may have been many thousands, and 
many myriads. Taking the number of thousands to 
be multiplied by a thousand at the lowest number, 
two =2000, and the thousand thousands were 2,000,- 
000, and taking the myriads that are to be multiplied 
by a myriad, in like manner at two myriads, 20,000, 
and multiplied by 10,000, they are 200,000,000. There 



IN THE UNIVERSE INNUMERABLE. 113 

were at the lowest number therefore that the lan- 
guage can express, two hundred and two millions of 
angels present on that occasion. But in the vision, 
Eev. V. 11, of the reception by the Lamb of the seal- 
ed book from the Father there were thousands of 
thousands, and myriads of myriads present, which at 
the lowest numbers the terms can express, were four 
hundred and four millions ; and they may have been 
many times that number : thousands and myriads of 
millions. Great, however, as their numbers were, 
they are not to be regarded as all the angels of God, 
but only as representatives of the immeasurably 
greater numbers of their orders ; in the same manner 
as the four living creatures, and the four and twenty 
elders were representatives pf all of our race who 
had been redeemed out of every tribe, and tongue, 
and people, and nation, amounting probably to many 
millions ; and as other symbols in the Apocalypse, 
such as the horsemen of the seals, the woman clothed 
with the sun, the angel clothed with a cloud, the wild 
beast of ten horns, the two witnesses, and the woman 
Babylon, represent great combinations and succes- 
sions of men. And if used in that relation, how im- 
mense the hosts to which they belong ? The revela- 
tion was made to them as truly as it was to the 
apostle John, and they may have borne no greater 
proportion to the countless millions of their orders, 
than John did to the vast crowds of mankind to 
whom through him the revelation has been connnu- 
nicated. 



114 THE RANKS AND HOSTS OF INTELLIGENCES 

But angels are not the only order of intelligences 
in the heavenly worlds, as is clearly indicated by 
their titles, thrones, dominions, principalities, pow- 
ers, and authorities, which are the names of poten- 
tates who exercise authority over other intelligences, 
and indicate therefore that there are other ranks of 
intelligences inferior to them in nature, that are 
placed under their sway. And this is signified also 
by the name angel : which is the name of their office 
or function. Angel is literally a messenger. But a 
messenger, that is, an intelligence bearing a message 
such as the will or command of God, is of course a 
messenger to an intelligence or to intelligences. A 
spiritual being bearing a communication from a spir- 
itual being, is not sent to stocks and stones, to un- 
conscious unintelligent matter. From the nature of 
his office those to whom he is a bearer of messages 
must be intelligent beings. The fact, therefore, that 
there is such an order of intelligences, and of such 
countless numbers, is itself a direct proof that there 
are other orders of intelligent beings of inferior na- 
tures, of infinitely greater numbers ; and makes it 
probable accordingly that the whole circuit of worlds 
that fill the realms of space are peopled by such races 
and ranks. 

And this is confirmed by several passages which 
exhibit the universe of worlds as occupied by hosts 
that worship God. Such is Nehemiah ix. 6. ^'Thou, 
thou art Jehovah alone. Thou hast made heaven, 
the heaven of heavens with all their hosts ; the earth, 



IN THE UNIVERSE INNUMERABLE. 115 

and all that are therein ; the seas, and all that are 
therem ; and thou preservest them all : and the host 
of heaven worshippeth thee." ^' Heaven," and " the 
heaven of heavens," are not space ; for space is not 
created ; but the material worlds, the countless orbs 
that fill the immeasurable realms of space ; and their 
host is their intelligent inhabitants. This is seen 
from their discrimination from the orbs themselves. 
The creation of their host is exhibited as a different 
act from the creation of the worlds themselves, in the 
same manner as the creation of the organized and 
living things of the earth and the sea, was a different 
work from the creation of the earth itself. And their 
host worships Jehovah, which is the act only of intel- 
ligent beings. The passage thus teaches that the 
vast train of worlds that wheel their circuits in the 
heights and depths around us, considered as one, 
have an intelligent population, that belongs to them 
as one, that is distributed therefore throughout their 
groups, and that worships Jehovah. In other words, 
the vast circuit of w^orlds that surrounds us, is peo- 
pled by intelligences, that vary in nature according 
to the spheres which they occupy, and that pay a 
joyous and adoring homage to God. 

There is a similar indication of this great truth in 
Psalm cxlviii. 2-4, where the angels are distinguished 
from the other hosts of Jehovah, and both from the 
material worlds which they inhabit. ^'Praise ye him 
all his angels, praise ye him all his hosts. Praise ye 
him sun and moon ; praise him all ye stars of light. 



116 THE RANKS AND HOSTS OF INTELLIGENCES 

Praise him ye heaven of heavens'^ — the worlds that 
wheel in the remote regions of space — "and ye waters 
that are above the heavens," the clouds that float in 
the heights of our atmosphere. As " his hosts'' thus 
differ both from the orbs in which they reside, and 
from the angels, who bear messages from God to 
other ranks of his subjects, they are intelligences of 
a different order from angels, and are as numerous 
doubtless in their families, as the worlds are that are 
fitted for their residence. 

This is still more clearly intimated in Psalm ciii. 
19-21 : " The Lord hath prepared his throne in the 
heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all. Bless the 
Lord ye his angels that excel in strength, that do his 
commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his 
word. Bless ye the Lord all his hosts, his ministers 
that do his will. Bless the Lord all his works in all 
places of his dominion.'' Here the angels mighty in 
strength are distinguished from his other hosts of 
servants. They are his messengers, who listen for 
the voice of his command, and bear his will with 
mighty energy to the orders of intelligences to whom 
he sends them. All his hosts of ministers who do his 
will, are distinguished not only from the angels ex- 
celling in strength who are his messengers, but also 
from all his works in all places of his dominion or 
empire ; and they either denote all the other orders 
of intelligences in the universe, or else which seems 
more probable, those orders who are intrusted with 
authority in the different parts of the divine king- 



IN THE UNIVERSE INNUMERABLE. 117 

dom over races or ranks of inferior natures, who are 
in that relation his ministers and do his will ; and are 
the ranks denoted in the New Testament by thrones, 
and principalities, and powers, and authorities, and 
dominions, who probably never leave the spheres of 
their authority and pass like angels to other orbs, or 
to the divine presence. And if that be the class to 
which all his hosts of ministers belong, then all his 
works, all he has created, that is, all his creatures in 
all places of his dominion, are all inferior orders of 
intelligences throughout his illimitable realms ; and 
this is indicated by their discrimination from the 
places, that is the worlds in which they exist. The 
passage thus clearly teaches that there a.re hosts of 
intelligences of different orders from the angels, and 
that they are distributed throughout the range of the 
material universe. 

We have thus the most ample proof from the word 
of God that the whole circuit of worlds, that wheel 
around us daily, is peopled by intelligences of various 
orders, and that the exaltation therefore of Christ 
over them, by which they are brought to recognize 
and worship him in his union with our nature, is an 
event of the utmost significance, and bespeaks in a 
most impressive manner the greatness of his work in 
our behalf, and the vastness and grandeur of the re- 
sults that are to spring from it. With wliat joy must 
the hosts of those unfallen worlds welcome his reign 
over them ! With what rapture must his presence, 
if he visits their sinless abodes in liis glorified form, 



118 THE ORDERS OP INTELLIGENCES INNUMERABLE. 

fill their hearts I What chants of love and adora- 
tion, must burst from their lips as they feel the bliss 
of his smile ; as they contemplate the progress of his 
reign, by which not only all the holy races and ranks 
of the universe are united in one happy empire, but 
man himself is to be freed from the dominion and 
curse of sin, and the earth again admitted to wheel in 
harmony among the unfallen worlds though eternal 
ages! 



ALL BEINGS ACQUAINTED WITH CHRIST^S WORK. 119 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE INHABITANTS OF THE HEAVENLY WORLDS ARE MADE ACQUAINTED 
WITH THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. 

That a knowledge of the work of redemption is 
communicated to all orders of intelligences, and that 
they are greatly influenced by it, is clear from the 
fact that Christ is exalted to the throne of the uni- 
verse, and that all intelligent creatures are required 
to recognize and worship him in that station as their 
Lord and Creator. For in order to their acknow^ledg- 
ment of him in his two-fold nature as Jehovah the 
Word, and glorifying the Father for appointing him 
to his mediatorship and investing him with authority 
over them, they must be made acquainted with the 
reason of his incarnation, the nature of his w^ork as 
Saviour, and the issues that are to spring from it. — 
Their homage to be suited on the one side, to their 
rectitude and wisdom as holy intelligences, and on 
the other, to the majesty of his perfections, and the 
grandeur of the redemption he accomplishes, must be 
founded on a knowledge of what he does and is to do 
in his office, in all its relations, and a sense of the infi- 
nite wisdom and love and power which it displays. 



120 THE INHABITANTS OF ALL WORLDS ARE 

1. It implies, therefore, that they are made ac- 
quainted with the nature of the beings for whose re- 
demption he became incarnate, suffered death, and is 
exalted to the throne of the universe. To understand 
his work, they must know the peculiarities of man as 
an intelligent creature, the rank he holds among the 
various orders of God^s rational subjects, the law 
under which he was originally placed, his apostasy, 
the condition of alienation and misery to which 
it brought him, and the death and endless ruin which 
it draws in its train. How else could they appreciate 
the depth of Christ's condescension ; the wonders of 
his love ? 

2. They must be made aware of the various forms 
which sin assumes in mankind, the debasing influences 
it exerts on them, and the miseries with which it 
overwhelms them ; and this requires that they should 
know the peculiarities of man's nature by which he 
has offspring ; the relationships in which he is placed, 
such as those of the family and of social and civil soci- 
ety, out of which his duties spring ; the laws that are 
imposed on him by God, and the providence that is 
exercised over him. How else can they understand 
what the duties of men are, what the temptations 
are by which they are assailed, and w^hat the motives 
are that should restrain them from evil, and prompt 
them to good? 

3. They are made acquainted with the course of 
God's administration over mankind, and their conduct 
under it ; their universal revolt from his sway ; the 



ACQUAINTED WITH CHRIST'S WORK. 121 

awful senselessness and impiety of their false reli- 
gions ; the eagerness and passion with which they 
have worshipped as gods the great objects of nature, 
idols, demonSj beasts and reptiles ; the ferocious pas- 
sions that have reigned in their breasts toward each 
other, and the infuriate slaughters and miseries they 
have inflicted on each other in battles, in the sack of 
cities, in the devastation of fields, and in consigning 
the conquered and helpless to bondage and toil; and 
all the countless atrocities that mark their history. — 
For how else can they understand the amazing de- 
basement to which mankind have sunk ; the selfishness 
and malignity of their affections toward each other ; 
and the boundless miseries they have inflicted on one 
another for the gratification of their pride, their ava- 
rice, their ambition, and their revenge ? Of all the 
spectacles this world exhibits, there is none, perhaps, 
that strikes the holy inhabitants of other orbs with 
deeper astonishment and horror, than tlie ceaseless 
wars which men wage with one another ; their thirst 
for each other's blood, and the fiendish joy with which 
they consign each other by thousands and millions to 
slaughter on the battle field, and count their prowess 
and skill in destroying each other of their chief glory. 
It is in this part of his history that it is seen what an 
enemy man is to himself, as it is in his worship of de- 
mons, idols and reptiles, Avhat an alien he is from God. 
4. They must understand the scope of Christ's me- 
• diatorial work ; the reasoas of his incarnation ; the 
ofiice of his death ; the principle on Avhicli jnstifica- 



122 THE INHABITANTS OP ALL WORLDS ARE 

tion is granted through him ; the power by which 
men are renewed ; the relations to him into which 
the renewed and pardoned are brought ; and the im- 
mortal life of holiness and blessedness to which they 
are to be exalted. For how else can they see that 
the method of salvation is worthy of God ; that he 
maintains in- it his righteousness and truth, while he 
exer'cises his mercy ; that he secures and advances 
the well-being of all his unfallen subjects, while he 
restores countless hosts of the fallen to holiness and 
happiness ? 

5. They must know what the reception is which 
Christ^s mediation has met from mankind ; the blind- 
ness and aversion with which it has been disbelieved 
and rejected ; the disdain and hatred with which jus- 
tification and life through his blood are spurned ; the 
boldness and impiety with which the doctrines and 
rites of his religion are perverted, and blended with 
false worships, the pride and audacity with which his 
office and rights as mediator are usurped; and the 
rage and malignity with which his followers are hated, 
persecuted, and slain. For how else can they see 
what an enemy to God man is, and what obstacles are 
to be overcome to accomplish his restoration to love, 
obedience, and bliss? 

6. They must know something of the great purposes 
of God respecting the redemption which is to be ac- 
complished through Christ ; the office of the present 
administration under which men are put to trial, and 
led to show their hopeless alienation ; the dispensa- 



ACQUAINTED WITH CHRIST^S WORK. 123 

tion that is to follow this, when Christ is to come, 
assume the empire of the world, and bring all nations 
to partake of his salvation ; and the endless round of 
ages through which his redemptive work is to be con- 
tinued. For how else can they appreciate the riches 
of the wisdom and love which it displays, and the 
grandeur of the results that are to spring from it ? 

The homage, in short, of these august beings, ex- 
alted in intelligence, delight in God, and interest in 
the wonders of his reign immeasurably above his chil- 
dren here, must in order to accord with the dignity 
of their nature and their relations to him, be founded 
on a just and comprehensive view of Christ's work, 
the ruin from which he rescues man, and the glory 
to which he exalts him. And the fulness of their 
knowledge and the glow of love and adoration with 
which it inspires them, are beautifully indicated in 
the ascriptions of the angelic hosts on his assumption 
in the Apocalypse of the office of revealer to the church 
of the scheme of his administration over the world. 
"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels 
in the circuit round the throne and of the living crea- 
tures, and of the elders, and their number was myri- 
ads of myriads, and thousands of thousands ; saying 
with a loud voice. Worthy is the Lamb w^ho was slain, 
to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing,'^ Rev. v. 
11, 12. These ascriptions thus include every title to 
authority and homage that belongs to God. They 
are acknowledgments of the Lamb as Jehovah, and 



124 THE INHABITANTS OF ALL WORLDS ARE 

as having in his work as Redeemer exercised his 
rights and displayed his love in a manner worthy of 
his injfinite perfections, and that places the loftiest of 
his intelligent subjects under obligation to adore and 
glorify him. His worth is commensurate with his 
station and his claims. He has a title to all the hon- 
ors they can render him. And this bespeaks a know- 
ledge of his whole work ; of the character and condi- 
tion of those for whom he died ; of the wisdom, 
righteousness, and grace of the method of their re- 
demption ; of the power by which they are regene- 
rated ; of the means by which they are sanctified 
and made to verify their renovation in obedient 
lives; of the rewards with which they are to be 
crowned ; and of the scheme of administration he is 
to pursue through his eternal reign. For how other- 
wise can they know that there is no defect in his pro- 
cedure ? How, if without the assurance of an actual 
acquaintance with it ; how, if left in uncertainty and 
darkness, could they offer him such positive ascrip- 
tions of infinite worthiness ; and how could that 
homage meet his acceptance, as the offspring of their 
intellects and hearts, prompted by an intimate in- 
spection and comprehension of his ways ? For they 
are not merely spectators of his administration, but 
have in every age had a share in conducting it, and 
filled important offices in the protection of those who 
are saved, and in the punishment of those who per- 
ish. 

And this indicates again the office which the ex- 



ACQUAINTED WITH CHRIST^S WORK. 125 

emplifications that have hitherto taken place under 
the divine administration fill. For how could the 
angelic orders have such a knowledge of the wisdom, 
righteousness, and grace of Christ^s work ; how could 
they know what the condition of man is ; the depth 
of his alienation from God ; and the greatness of the 
power, and pity, and love that are requisite to his 
redemption ; and the holiness, wisdom, and gracious- 
ness of all the methods that are employed for his de- 
liverance ; if no such experiment as has been wrought 
in the divine administration through the six thou- 
sand years of his existence, had been made of man, 
and of the means of his restoration to holiness, in 
which all the great facts on which the work of salva- 
tion proceeds are so shown forth and verified, as to 
give those lofty intelligences a perfect comprehen- 
sion of it ? Their information is real and direct ; not 
derived and founded on testimony. It was obtained 
by the actual observation of mankind and God's gov- 
ernment over them, not received by revelation. For 
they are all ministering spirits sent forth to minister 
for them who shall be heirs of salvation, Heb. i. 13- 
14. " The Mosaic law was ordained in their hands 
we are told,'' Gal. iii. 19 ; and the world in the pre- 
sent age, it seqms to be indicated, Heb. ii. 5, is sub- 
ject to them, or the sphere of their special ministry. 
They gather their knowledge accordingly by an ac- 
tual presence in the scene, the exercise of a ceaseless 
ministry of mercy or of judgment, and the direct ob- 
servation of the great exhibitions which it presents 



126 THE INHABITAIJJT3 OF ALL WORLDS ARE 

of man and of God. And how clear again it is in the 
light of this fact, that a time will at length arrive, 
when these exemplifications of man's heart, will reach 
a vastness and completeness that will be commensu- 
rate with the needs of the universe, so that they may 
thereafter be discontinued, and renovation and re- 
demption be extended to all the nations and families 
of the earth, without any danger that it will not be 
justly understood, and the honor and glory that are 
due for it given to God. 

The exaltation of Christ to the throne of the uni- 
verse, and subjection of all the orders of holy beings 
to his sway, is thus a most important feature in his 
mediatorial work, and bespeaks in a sublime manner 
its infinite significance. Every holy being in the 
universe has a personal interest in it. Every holy 
intelligence, whatever may be his rank, the world he 
inhabits, or the sphere in which he acts, is made ac- 
quainted with it ; is brought into an intimate relation 
to the Son in his human nature ; and is called to re- 
cognize and adore him in it as Jehovah the Eternal 
Word, the Creator of all worlds and creatures, and 
the Saviour of sinful men. And in what a dazzling 
light it sets forth its spotless rectitude and the infi- 
nite riches of its wisdom and love, that it is thus 
submitted to the minute and searching inspection of 
all his moral subjects, and that the most piercing in- 
telligences in his empire — those towering beings 
whose glance is the deepest and most comprehen- 
sive — detect in it no defect, but only find in it fresh 



ACQUAINTED WITH CHRIST^S WORK. 127 

occasions of admiration of his boundless wisdom, and 
new and more transporting signals of the riches of 
his skill and love ! And how glorious it is to him 
that he thus makes it the means of advancing them 
to a higher knowledge of his perfections, and bind- 
ing them in a more indissoluble allegiance to his 
throne. 

And this indicates again that it is to have a great- 
ness far beyond what those who hold that the present 
is the last dispensation imagine. The salvation of but 
a mere fraction of the human family ; the interception 
of the work after the lapse of a few centuries more, 
and an administration like the present under which 
but here and there one is redeemed, would seem dis- 
proportioned to the attitude in which it is placed to 
the Avhole body of God's moral creatures ; and to the 
personal interest which all the obedient subjects of 
his empire are made to feel in it. It is onlj^ such a re- 
demption as he has foreshown in his word ; a redemp- 
tion of all nations and all individuals through an end- 
less round of ages and generations, that is in harmony 
with the place it occupies in God's government over 
the universe, and that is commensurate with the office 
it is to fill in manifesting his glory, and promoting 
the intelligence, the piety, and the happiness of his 
kingdom. 

And finally, what a vast scene of holy and blissful 
ministries of the higher ranks of intelligences to those 
of inferior orders, this great feature of Christ's work 
unfolds ! Angels are so formed that tlicr can descend 



128 THE INHABITANTS OF ALL WORLDS ARE • 

from their heavenly abodes to our sphere and gain a 
knowledge of man^s ruin and redemption by a direct 
inspection of the condition and conduct of those who 
are under the power of sin, and of the renewed ; and 
the nature of the means by which the fetters of sin 
are broken, and the soul restored to holiness 
and bliss. But in the vast circuit of God's empire 
there are doubtless orders of beings whose natures, 
like ours, confine them to their own orbs, and who 
must therefore obtain their knowledge of Christ's 
work directly from him, or through other beings. — 
He probably reveals himself in person to all his holy 
creatures, and gives them directly to behold his glory 
and express their allegiance to him. But the full 
knowledge of his work must doubtless be communi- 
cated by fellow creatures who gain an acquaintance 
with the fall and redemption of our race by a direct 
vision of us, and whose nature allows them to visit 
other parts of God's empire, and communicate the 
intelligence they have acquired to the beings to whom 
they are sent. And what countless hosts must be 
requisite to perform that work to all the worlds inha- 
bited by intelligences through the vast circuit of his 
empire ! That high office is held by the angels ; and 
their numbers are equal to the missions, coextensive 
with the universe, which they are called to fill. Those 
who stood in a circle round the throne at the opening 
of the Apocalypse, chap. v. 11, amounted, the language 
of the vision indicates, to several hundreds, perhaps 
thousands of millions. Yet they were representa- 



ACQUAINTED WITH CHRIST's WOEK. 129 

tives of the immeasurably more numerous hosts of 
the orders, to which they belonged ; though perhaps 
of those only whose sphere lies within our nebula of 
worlds. How infinite the armies then that occupy 
the orbs allotted to their order through the boundless 
circuit of peopled space ! Who can deem it improba- 
ble that the holy dead may also after the resurrection, 
be assigned a share in this august and blissful office, 
and may make known by their own voice to the inha- 
bitants of myriads and millions of worlds, the won- 
drous manner in which Christ raised them from the 
thrall and curse of sin, and show the grandeur of his 
love to them in the splendors in which their outward 
nature is invested and the dignity of the stations in 
his kingdom which they fill ! 



6* 



130 Christ's throne in heaven, 



CHAPTER XII. 

Christ's throne in heaven, is not the throne of david. 

The predictions of the Old Testament respecting 
Christ's sway, most generally exhibit him as a King, 
who is to sit on the throne of David, and reign over 
the house of Israel. Such is the promise to David, 2 
Samuel vii. 16. Such is the prophecy of Isaiah ix. 6, 
7 : ''For unto us a child is born : unto us a son is 
given : and the government shall be upon his shoul- 
der : and his name shall be called Wonderful, Coun- 
sellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The 
Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his govern- 
ment and peace there shall be no end upon the throne 
of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to 
establish it with judgment and with justice from 
henceforth, even for ever. The zeal of Jehovah shall 
perform this.'^ Such is the prophecy of Jeremiah 
xxxiii. 14-16, and of Micah v. 2 ; and such also is the 
annunciation to Mary, Luke i. 30-33 : " Behold thou 
shalt conceive and bring forth a son, and shalt call his 
name Jesus. And he shall be great, and shall be 
called the Son of the Highest : And the Lord God 



IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAYID. 131 

shall give unto him the throne of his father David ; 
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever ; 
and of his kingdom there shall be no end." It was 
accordingly, at first, the expectation of Christ's disci- 
ples that he would at once institute his kingdom in 
Judea, release the Israelites from the power of their 
enemies, and bring the nations into subservience to 
his sceptre. In his last interview with them, as he 
was about to ascend to heaven, they asked him, 
" Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the king- 
dom' to Israel ?" As then he immediately ascended 
to heaven, and entered on a reign over the universe, 
and instead of delivering the Israelites from the hands 
of the Gentiles, left them to be conquered afresh, 
driven into exile, and held in vassalage through a long 
tract of ages ; it is inferred by many that these pre- 
dictions of his reign on the throne of David and over 
the kingdom of Israel, are not literal predictions, but 
are mere representatives of the reign on the throne 
of heaven he is now exercising. The fact, accord- 
ingly, that those prophecies have had no literal fulfil- 
ment is regarded as a decisive proof that they are 
never to have such an accomplishment ; and indeed 
his reign on the throne of heaven is alleged as directly 
demonstrating that he is never to be enthroned on 
the earth, and that the belief held by Millenarians 
that he is yet to reign here, is mistaken. It is main- 
tained, even that if the literal sense of those prophe- 
cies were their true and only sense, their non-fulfil- 
ment for such a series of ages would prove that they 



132 Christ's throne in heaven, 

are false, and overthrow the whole fabric of Christi- 
anity. 

Thus a recent writer alleges in the most earnest 
manner that to maintain that the throne of heaven, 
on which Christ now reigns, is not the throne of Da- 
vid, is in ejBfect to represent that the predictions, that 
he should reign on the throne of David and over the 
kingdom of Israel, can never have a fulfilment, and 
treat them as false, and thereby put an instrument 
into the hand of the sceptic by which he can, in his 
own conviction, overturn the whole structure of 
Christianity. He maintains, moreover, that the lite- 
ral accomplishment of those prophecies is impossible, 
on the assumption that if Christ were really to reign 
on the throne and over the kingdom of David, he 
would of necessity descend to a level with David, in 
his personal condition and the mode of his reign, 
which is inconsistent with his deity. 

Both of these impressions, however, are wholly un- 
authorized and mistaken. That Christ has not yet 
enthroned himself on Mount Zion, and reigned over 
the restored Israelites, is no proof that he cannot and 
will not at a future period ; any more than the fact 
that he has not yet redeemed Israel out of the hands 
of their enemies and recalled them to their ancient 
seat, is a proof that he is never to regather and estab- 
lish them in their own land ; or than the fact that he 
has not yet converted all the nations of the earth, is 
a proof that he is never to convert them. His long 
delay to return and assume the sceptre of the world, 



IS NOT THE THRONE OP DAYID. 133 

is no more irreconcilable with his promises and pre- 
dictions, and no more against the expectations the 
church has very generally entertained, than his long 
delay is to come and overthrow the apostate powers 
that are making war on his saints, spread the light 
of the gospel throughont the earth, and bring all na- 
tions to accept his salvation. Nor does it any more 
follow that, if he reigns on the throne of David, he 
must be " a king on the earthly model of David,'' and 
" possess the outward forms and trappings of Jewish 
royalty,'' than it follows that he must be a mortal like 
David, sustain precisely the relations he did, and 
reign over exactly such subjects. Solomon's mode 
of reigning differed greatly from that of David. He 
erected a new and far more gorgeous throne ; he set 
it in a new palace ; he was surrounded by a different 
train of attendants ; his whole administration of the 
kingdom varied greatly from that of his father ) but 
that did not prove that he did not inherit his father's 
throne and kingdom. He reigned on his father's 
throne, because he succeeded to his empire and his 
authority. And so Christ will reign on the throne 
of his father David, and over the house of Jacob when 
he reigns in person on Mount Zion as the special king 
of that restored and redeemed people ; though he 
reigns in glory as God-man, and over all other na- 
tions and all other worlds. We might, moreover, 
confute, by a variety of considerations, the the- 
ory that the throne which is denominated David's 
is the throne of heaven on which Christ is now 



134 Christ's throne in heaven, 

reigning, and DavicVs kingdom, the universe of worlds 
which forms Christ^s empire ; such as, first : That it 
is a gratuitous assumption. No proof whatever is 
given of it. Not a syllable can be alleged from the 
Scriptures, indicating that those kingdoms are identi- 
cal. Next : That it is a self-contradiction. The throne 
of heaven was not the throne of David ; the universe 
of worlds and creatures was not his empire. No er- 
ror can be greater than to imagine it. David no more 
reigned on the throne of heaven, or owned it and the 
infinite hosts of intelligences that bend in homage to 
Jehovah who reigns on it, than Saul owned them, 
or Jeroboam, Ahab, or any other prince of Israel. — 
Thirdly : That there is no figure or law of language 
by which the predictions that Christ should possess 
the throne of David and reign over the house of 
Jacob, can mean that he should possess the throne of 
heaven and reign over all worlds and creatures. 
The two are wholly distinct, and wholly unlike. — 
Christ's right to the throne of the universe, and the 
reason of his reigning on it in his complex nature, 
have their ground exclusively in his deity. The 
only right to a throne which is transmitted to him 
from David, is a right to the throne of Israel ; a 
throne over that people in the natural life. Fourth- 
ly, That the fancy that these prophecies are sym- 
holical is wholly mistaken. They have not a sin- 
gle mark of symbolization. They are mere lan- 
guage prophecies, and are to be interpreted by the 
ordinary laws of speech. To treat them as symboli- 



IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAVID. 135 

cal, is to involve them in inextricable contradiction 
and. absurdity, and make it impossible to assign them 
a credible meaning. For if David^s throne and king- 
dom are mere symbols of a throne and kingdom that 
differ wholly from themselves, then David himself 
must also be a mere symbol of some other personage 
than himself, and the house of Jacob must be a sym- 
bol of some other people than the descendants of 
Jacob. Who, then, is it that David represents ?• — 
No one, we presume, would quite feel justified in an- 
swering — It was God the Father ; yet it was he who 
gave Christ the throne of the universe. Eph. i. 19- 
23 ; Phil. ii. 9-11 ; Col. i. 15-20. And whom does 
the house of Jacob symbolize ? Would any one deem 
it safe to answer — They are the holy inhabitants of the 
countless worlds wheeling in the realms of space 
over which Christ reigns ? Beside the revolting 
solecism of such a construction, it would be to con- 
tradict the interpretation that is placed on the house of 
Jacob, as a symbol of the Christian church. It is to 
confound and desecrate these prophecies to make 
David, a guilty creature, the symbol of the Most 
High, and the revolting, idolatrous, and debased Is- 
raelites the symbol of the spotless hosts of the hea- 
venly worlds. 

But it is not necessary to enter into these proofs 
that the throne of David is not the throne of heaven, 
nor the representative of it; nor the kingdom of 
Israel, the universe of creatures, or the symbol of it, 
over which Christ now reigns. The question is set- 



136 Christ's throne in heaven, 

tied directly in the New Testament, by the express 
declaration that no revelation was made to mankind 
anterior to Christ's coming, that he was to be exalted 
to the throne of the universe, and exercise the gov- 
ernment over all orders of beings he is now adminis- 
tering. This great measure of the divine procedure 
was withheld from the ancient church. It was only 
revealed to the Israelites that the Messiah should be 
their king ; that he should be enthroned on Mount 
Zion ; that he should redeem them from their ene- 
mies ; that he should recall them from their disper- 
sion, and re-establish them in their own land ; that 
he should reign over them in glory and peace ; that 
aU nations should be subject to his sceptre, and that 
his kingdom should continue without end. That ere 
the redemption of Israel should be ac(iomplished ; 
that immediately after his offering himself a sacrifice, 
and rising from the dead, he was to ascend to the 
throne of heaven, and reign there through a long 
tract of ages, to make himself known in his complex 
nature and office as Redeemer to all the countless 
ranks of obedient creatures in the universe, receive 
their homage, and unfold to them his work and aims 
in the salvation of men — while, in the meantime, the 
earth was to continue the scene of false worships, 
apostasies of his professed people, and conflicts and 
miseries, much as it had been through all preceding 
ages — was kept concealed in the divine mind, till 
Christ had suffered and was about to ascend to hea 
ven. The promise, therefore, to Christ of the throne 



IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAVID. 137 

of David and the kingdom of Israel, cannot have been 
a promise of the throne and kingdom of the universe ; 
inasmuch as if it were, it would have been a revela- 
tion that he was to ascend to the throne of heaven, 
and reign over the universe of worlds and creatures. 
But no such revelation having been made, this can- 
not have been a promise that he should reign on that 
heavenly throne, and over those worlds and creatures. 
That no revelation was made in the Old Testament, 
of the union of all worlds in one empire under Christ, 
is expressly affirmed by Paul, Ephesians i. 8-10. 
" He has abounded toward us in all wisdom and pru- 
dence, having made known unto us the mystery of his 
will, according to his good pleasure, which he pur- 
posed in himself, in the economy (that is, the peculiar 
administration) of the fulness of the times, to bring to- 
gether again in one (or reunite in one) the all in 
Christ — those in the heavens and those upon the 
earth.'' The all, " those in the heavens and those on 
the earth,'' are all intelligent beings of those divisions 
of the universe ; as is seen from their being distin- 
guished from the earth, the physical globe, and the 
heavens, the material orbs in which they dwell ; and 
from vs. 20, 21, in which those in the heavenly worlds 
are defined as principalities and powers, and mights 
and dominions, and eveiy name that is named, both 
in this age and that which is to come ; from Phil. ii. 
6-11, where they are exhibited as beings that have 
knees that can bow, and tongues that can confess that 
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father ; 



138 Christ's throiv^e in heaven, 

and many other passages. To bring together in one 
in Christ these populations of all worlds, these infinite 
hosts of intelligences that fill the vast circle of orbs 
throughout the realms of space, is to unite them in 
one empire under him, the incarnate Word, their 
creator, upholder, and ruler, and our Lord and Re- 
deemer. It is to bring them into a direct relationship 
and subordination to him as God-man, in which on the 
one hand he, in his two-fold nature, is to reign over 
them in the rights, authority, and glory of Jehovah ; 
and on the other, they are to recognise, adore, obey, 
and glorify him as Jehovah the Word, in union with 
man, and form in that willing and joyous subordina- 
tion, and that loving, adoring, and confiding homage 
and obedience, through all their ranks and mj^riads, 
one united, consentaneous, and perfect kingdom. It 
is, accordingly, in Col. i. 19, 20, called a reconciliation 
of all things in the heavens and on the earth unto the 
Father through Christ — that is, a being brought to a 
filial, joyous submission to God in Christ, acquiescence 
in his rule as rightful and befitting in its relations to 
them, and as holy, gracious, and wise in its relations to 
mankind, and glorification of the Tather for it. " For 
it pleased the Father that in him all fulness should 
dwell ; and that through him all should be reconciled 
unto himself, whether those in the earth or those in 
the heavens f that is, brought to a recognition and 
acknowledgment of him as Jehovah incarnate, a glad 
acquiescence in his sway, an adoring approbation of 
his work in the salvation of men, and a grateful horn- 



IS NOT THE THRONE OP DAVID. 139 

age of the Father for it, and for his headship over 
them. And the purpose of God thus to exalt him to 
the throne of the heavens, and bring all ranks of holy 
creatures into an intimate relation to him, and sub- 
mission to his sceptre, was a mystery, the apostle de- 
clares, wholly unknown to man until revealed to him 
and others after their appointment to the apostleship. 
It was a part of " the mystery of Ms willj according to 
the good pleasure which he had purposed in himself, 
in the economy of the fulness of the times, to gather to- 
gether in one all in Christ, both those that are in the 
heavens and those that are on the earth ;'' that is, 
that purpose was undisclosed to men ; it remained a 
secret in the divine counsels, until it was revealed to 
the apostles. He accordingly refers to it, chap. iii. 
1-11, as it contemplates the reconciliation of the Gen- 
tile as well as Israelitish inhabitants of this world, 
and represents it as not having been made known 
unto the sons of men, but kept hidden in God. " For 
this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for 
you Gentiles, since ye have heard of the dispensation 
(or economy) of the grace of God which is given unto 
me to you-ward, how that by revelation he made known 
unto me the mystery (the purpose before undisclosed), 
as I have just written in brief (chap. i. 9, 10), by 
which when ye read, ye may apprehend my under- 
standing of the mystery of Christ, which in other gen- 
erations was not made knov/n to the sons of men, as 
it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets 
by the Spirit, that the Gentiles are to be fellow-heirs 



140 Christ's throne in heaven, 

and the same body, and fellow-partakers of his prom- 
ise in Christ through the gospel, of which I am made 
a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God, 
which is given to me according to the inworking of 
his power — to me the least of all saints is given this 
favor — among the Gentiles to preach the glad tidings 
of the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make 
known to all what the economy (the scheme of admin- 
istration) is of the mystery (the undisclosed purpose) 
which was hidden from the ages in God, who created 
all things, that noiu might be made known to the prin- 
cipalities and the powers in the heavenly worlds 
through the church, the manifold wisdom of God, ac- 
cording to the purpose of the ages which he formed 
in Christ Jesus our Lord." Here the mystery — the 
purpose of God before undisclosed, is the same as 
that of which he speaks, chap. i. 9, 10, and represents 
as a purpose to bring the populations of all worlds 
— those of the heavenly orbs on the one side, those 
of the earth on the other — into one loving, obedient, 
and perfect empire under Christ. He then, v. 20, 21, 
contemplated it chiefly in reference to Christ's exal- 
tation over the inhabitants of the heavenly worlds ; 
all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, 
and every name that is named in this age, and that 
which is to come ; he here contemplates it in its re- 
ference to the inhabitants of the earth, and exhibits 
it as a purpose that all the Gentile nations shall be 
fellow-heirs with the Israelites, of the same body, and 
fellow-partakers of the promise of the gospel ; namely, 



IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAYID. 141 

a promise of a perfect redemption from the dominion 
and curse of sin : so that this world is in the fulness of 
the times to be wholly reconciled to God, and brought 
into a full and blissful harmony with the other worlds 
in their subjection to Christ. And this purpose, he 
declares, " in other generations was not made knowij. 
unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his 
holy apostles and prophets f " but from the begin- 
ning of the world had been hid in God/' To the 
Colossians, also, he represents it as " the mystery 
which had b^en hid from the ages, and from the gen- 
erations, but now is manifest to his saints, to whom 
God willed, to make known what is the riches of the 
glory of this mystery, in respect to the Gentiles, 
which is Christ in you the hope of glory,'' chap. i. 26, 
27. These passages thus teach, in the clearest man- 
ner, that the great purpose of the exaltation of Christ 
to the throne of the universe, the submission to him 
of all the hosts inhabiting the heavenly orbs, and the 
reconciliation of this world to him by a full and final 
restoration of all the Gentile nations, as well as the 
Israelites, to holiness, so that the whole shall form 
one* peaceful, loving, and blissful empire, was not 
made known to the ages and the generations that 
preceded Christ's incarnation, but was first revealed 
to the apostles and prophets at the promulgation of 
the gospel. 

And this is repeated and confirmed in other passa- 
ges. Thus Paul, Rom. xvi. 25, 26, represents this 
mystery as having been kept silent through all pre- 



142 CHRIST^S THRONE IN HEAVEN, 

ceding times, but as now by revelation, made mani- 
fest, while also it was made known through the pro- 
phetic writings by the command of God, in order to 
an obedient faith among all the Gentiles. " Now to 
him who is able to establish you according to my 
gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, conform- 
ably to the revelation of the mystery kept silent, 
XpovoiQ aiovLOLc, from eternity, but now made manifest, 
and through the prophetic writings, according to the 
command of the eternal God, made known among all 
the nations, in order to an obedience of faith f that 
is, a believing obedience. It is thus declared to have 
been kept silent from eternity, but now to be mani- 
fested by revelation ; while at the same time the 
writings of the prophets of the Old Testament are 
used in communicating it to all nations, in order to 
lead them believingly and obediently to receive it. 
As this mystery was at that time first made known by 
revelation, it had not been before disclosed to the 
ancient prophets. Their writings were not referred 
to therefore as having foreshown it, but simply as 
foreshowing other elements of the great scheme of 
redemption that are associated with and confirm it ; 
such as the deity of the Messiah, Isaiah ix. 6, 7 ; his 
death, Isaiah liii. 3-10; his resurrection. Psalm xvi. 
9-11; the full redemption at length of Israel, Jer. 
xxxi. 31-34; the reign of the Messiah over that re- 
stored and redeemed people, Isaiah ix. 6, 7 ; Psalm ii. 
6-8 ; the participation of the Gentiles in the bless- 
ings of his reign, Isaiah Ixvi. 19-23 ; Zech. xiv. 16, 



IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAVID. 143 

17 ; their subjection to his sceptre, Zech. xiv. 9 ; and 
the creation of new heavens and a new earth, Isa. 
Ixv. 17-25. These and other great truths respecting 
Christ and his reign on earth were made known to 
the ancient church, and they were adapted to concili- 
ate the faith of those to whom the gospel was pro- 
claimed, in those purposes of God respecting the ex- 
altation of Christ to the throne of heaven, and the 
ultimate full redemption of the Gentile nations, as 
well as the Israelites, which had before been conceal- 
ed from the sons of men. 

This is confirmed by the fact, that there is no reve- 
lation in the Old Testament prophecies that Christ 
was to be invested with authority over the inhabi- 
tants of the heavenly realms. It is, indeed, clearly 
signified in Psalm ex. 1, that he would be exalted to 
the right hand of the Father : " The Lord said unto 
my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make 
thine enemies thy footstool." But there is here no 
intimation that in that exaltation he was to be invest- 
ed with the sceptre of the universe, and reign over 
all the hosts of the heavenly worlds, as well as over 
the inhabitants of the earth. Instead, he is contem- 
plated simply as the king of this world ; and this 
world is exhibited as the scene of his conflicts with 
and conquest of his enemies. '' The Lord shall send 
the rod of thy strength out of Zion : rule thou in the 
midst of thine enemies. The Lord at thy right hand 
shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath : 
he shall judge among the heathen ; he shall fill places 



144 CHRIST^S THRONE IN HEAVEN, 

with the dead bodies ; he shall wound the heads over 
many countries/' v. 2-6. These are events indisputa- 
bly that are to take place in his reign on the earth. 
In Psalm xlv. 6, also, he is addressed as God, and 
his throne is declared to be for ever ; yet this world 
is exhibited as the scene of his reign. " Thine ar- 
rows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies ; ' 
the people fall under thee. Thy throne, God, is 
for ever and ever ; the sceptre of thy kingdom is a 
right sceptre. Thoulovest righteousness and hatest 
wickedness ; therefore God has thy God anointed 
thee with the oil of gladness above thy companions.'' 
Psalm Ixxii., also, which celebrates his reign, exhib- 
its the earth as its scene. " He shall judge the peo- 
ple in righteousness and thy poor with judgment. 
The mountains shall bring forth peace to the people, 
and the hills by righteousness. He shall judge the 
poor of the people ; he shall save the children of the 
needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. They 
shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, 
throughout all generations. He shall have dominion 
also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends 
of the earth : all kings shall fall down before him ; all 
nations shall serve him." And all ground for the 
supposition from these passages, that though his 
reign is to be over the earth, he is to be enthroned 
in heaven, while exercising it, is removed by the an- 
nouncement by Christ, that in coming in the clouds 
of heaven to judge and reign over men, he is to be 
seated on the right hand of power. " And the high 



IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAVID. 145 

priest said unto him, I adjure tliee by the living God, 
that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son 
of God. Jesus saith unto him. Thou hast said : but 
I say unto you ; hereafter ye shall see the Son of man 
seated at the right hand of power, and coming in the 
clouds of heaven," Matt. xxvi. 63, 64. And it is fore- 
shown. Rev. xxi. 22, 23, xxii. 1, 3, that the Father is to 
be present in the new Jerusalem, the symbol of the ris- 
en saints, on its descent to earth. " And I saw no tem- 
ple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb 
are the temple of it. And the city had no need of 
the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for the 
glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light 
thereof." ^' And the throne of God and of the Lamb 
shall be in it ; and his servants shall serve him." As 
then the throne of the Father is to be among the 
glorified saints on earth as well as the throne of 
Christ, during that part of his reign represented by 
the thousand years, which is to precede the final put- 
ting of all his enemies under his feet, those passages, 
in exhibiting him as God, and as seated at the right 
hand of Jehovah, during that period, do not imply 
that the throne on which he is then to reign is, like 
that on which he is now seated, to be in heaven, and 
not on the earth; and the revelation accordingly, 
that he was to be seated at the right hand of Jeho- 
vah, was not a revelation that he was to be exalted 
to the throne of the universe, and invested with au- 
thority over all orders of intelligent beings. 

That no such revelation was made to the ancient 

7 



146 Christ's throne in heaven, 

church, is indicated also by the expectation which 
prevailed among Christ's disciples, till his ascension, 
that he would immediately enter on his reign over 
the house of Israel. They asked him but a few mo- 
ments before he ascended to heaven, "'Lord, wilt thou 
at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?'' 
showing that they regarded the ancient prophets 
as foreshowing the restoration of the kingdom to 
that people ; and that they knew not but he would 
immediately declare himself their king, and commence 
his reign over them on mount Zion. 

This is confirmed, moreover, by the fact, that it was 
wholly unknown to the ancient church that the Israel- 
ites were to continue in blindness and unbelief for a 
long period after ChHst came, during which they 
were to be conquered by the Gentiles, and driven 
into exile ; their city destroyed, and their worship 
abolished. Paul says, " I would not, brethren, that 
ye should be ignorant of this mystery (lest ye should 
be wise in your own conceits,) that blindness in part 
is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gen- 
tiles be come in ; and so all Israel shall be saved; as 
it is written. Then shall come out of Zion the De- 
liverer ; and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. 
For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take 
away their sins." And he represents this part of the 
divine purpose as a depth which no one had known 
or could have searched out. "For God hath conclud- 
ed them all — Israelites and Gentiles — in unbelief, that 
ho might have mercy on all. the depth of the 



IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAVID. 147 

riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! 
How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways 
past finding out ! For who hath known the mind of 
the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor?^' Rom. 
xi. 25, 26 ; 32-34. This is called a mystery, because 
it had not been revealed by the ancient prophets to 
the Israelites. As, then, no revelation had been 
made to them that they were to continue in blind- 
ness and alienation for a long series of ages after 
Christ came, and were not to be redeemed till his 
second coming, and the redemption of the Gentiles, 
but they were left to suppose that he would com- 
mence his reign over them soon after his birth ; no 
revelation was made to them that ere he began his 
reign over them, he was to be exalted in his human 
nature to the throne of heaven, and reign through a 
long succession of ages over the inhabitants of the 
heavenly worlds. 

It is clear, then, from these various considerations, 
that no revelation was made in the ancient Scriptures 
of the exaltation of Christ to the throne of heaven, 
and reign over the universe of unfallen creatures. — 
The promise and prophecy that he should reign on 
the throne of David, and over the kingdom of Israel, 
therefore, were not a revelation that he should be 
exalted to that heavenly throne, and reign over the 
unfallen worlds. His present reign in heaven, ac- 
cordingly, is not a fulfilment of the promise that he 
should reign on the throne of David and over the 
kingdom of Israel. Consequently the promise to hrm 



148 CHRIST^S THEONE IN HEAVEN, 

of David^s throne, and an eternal reign on it over his 
kingdom, remains yet to be fulfilled ; and as a reign 
in heaven and over other worlds is not and cannot be 
a fulfilment of it, it is to be fulfilled by his actually 
coming and reigning as the descendant of David on 
his throne over the kingdom of restored and redeem- 
ed Israel. 

The fancy, therefore, maintained so confidently by 
some, that the throne of David is a symbol of the 
throne of heaven, and Israel and the kingdom of 
Israel symbols of the inhabitants of the heavenly 
worlds, and that Christ's exaltation to heaven and 
reign over the universe, are the accomplishment of 
the prophecies that he shall reign on David's throne 
and over his kingdom, is set aside. It is not only 
Avithout authority, and against the laws of analogy, 
but it is proved to be AvhoUy mistaken and in contra- 
vention of the truth, by the fact thus expressly de- 
clared by the apostle, that no revelation was made in 
the ancient prophecies, that Christ was to ascend to 
the throne of heaven, and exert the administration 
he is now exercising there over the populations of the 
celestial spheres. The present reign of Christ in hea- 
ven is thus shown to be perfectly consistent with his 
future reign, according to the predictions of the pro- 
phets, over Israel and the Gentile nations on the 
earth : and the fact that those predictions have not 
yet had any fulfillment, and that they cannot have, in 
a reign in heaven, is a proof that they are hereafter 



IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAYID. 149 

to have their accomplishment in a literal personal 
reign of the Redeemer on the earth. 

We commend this conclusion to the consideration 
of God^s people. There is no escape from it, by any 
artifices of philology or exploits of logic. It confronts 
those who would spiritualize the prophecies with a 
direct negative from the great Re vealer himself j and 
shows that it is those who deny that Christ is yet to 
reign in person on the earth — not those who main- 
tain that he is — who in effect impeach the truth of 
the prophecies respecting him, and fill the quiver of 
"the adversaries'^ with arrows with which to assail 
the truth of Christianity. 



150 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

One of the most important questions in regard to 
the future administration God is to exercise over our 
world, respects the period during which the series 
of human generations and the work of redemption 
are to continue. If the race is within a few centuries 
to reach its term, and the number who are to be saved 
completed, then the work of redemption is to be com- 
prised within limits that seem very narrow, and dis- 
proportioned to the great measures by which their 
restoration to holiness is accomplished. If they are 
to continue forever to perpetuate themselves in suc- 
cessive generations, and renovation is soon to be ex- 
tended to all that come into existence, and continued 
through eternal years, then the result of Christ's in- 
tervention is to be commensurate with the divine per- 
fections, and suitable to the wonderfulness of the me- 
diation by which it is to be achieved. 

What then are the purposes of God respecting the 
perpetuation of our race ? Is this world to continue 
to be their abode, and are they to multiply in an end- 



THE PERPETUITY OP THE HUMAN RACE. 151 

less series of generations ? Or are they soon to reach 
their destined number, cease to come into life, be 
transferred to some other scene of existence, and the 
earth, having filled its office as the place of their 
birth and probation, be struck back into the nothing- 
ness from which it was called ? 

The latter is very generally supposed to be the 
teaching of the divine word. It is maintained that 
the end of the millenial age — which it is held is to 
close a little over a thousand years hence — is to be 
the end of the world, as a physical existence ; that 
when soon after that period closes, the last resurrec- 
tion and judgment take place, the sanctified are to 
be removed to a residence prepared for them in some 
other part of the universe ; the wicked consigned to 
the abyss of punishment ; and the globe itself burned 
by a fire that is either to annihilate it, or dissolve it 
into its elements, and disperse them through the 
realms of space. 

This view, however, though very confidently held 
and taught, is not the doctrine of the Scriptures. — 
There is no intimation in them that the earth is ever 
to be annihilated, or cease to be the birthplace and 
home of human beings. Instead, they teach that it 
is to continue for ever, and that mankind are for ever 
to occupy it, and multiply in an endless succession of 
generations ; and that it is to be the scene of Christ^s 
everlasting kingdom and reign. These great futuri- 
ties are not simply implied or hinted in the word of 
God ; they are revealed with such clearness, fre- 



152 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

quency, and amplitude, and are so inwoven in the 
whole web of the divine predictions, as to make them 
among the most obvious and indubitable of the pur- 
poses which God has made known respecting his 
future administration of the world. 

Thus it was revealed to Noah after the flood, that 
neither the ground itself, nor its animal tribes, were 
ever again to be smitten with a curse for man's sake ; 
but that as long as the earth remains, seed time and 
harvest shall continue. ^' And the Lord said in his 
heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for 
man's sake ; neither will I again smite any more every 
thing living as I have done. While the earth re- 
maineth, seed time and harvest, and summer and win- 
ter, and day and night, shall not cease,'' Gen. viii. 21, 
22. This promise declares not only that the earth is 
never again to be swept by a deluge, nor the animal 
tribes destroyed on account of man's transgression, 
but that as long as it subsists it is to continue subject 
to its present great movements on its axis and round 
the sun, and in a condition to yield the crops and 
fruits that are designed for the sustenance of mankind 
in their natural life ; and implies, therefore, that men 
in the natural, in contradistinction from a glorified 
life, are to inhabit and cultivate the earth as long as 
it exists. Seed time is the time when men, whose 
office it is to cultivate the earth, plant and sow food- 
bearing vegetables ; and harvest is the time when 
they gather the ripened crops of the grains and seeds 
they have sown. The promise is equivalent, there- 



THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 153 

fore, to a declaration that mankind are to inhabit and 
cultivate the earth for their subsistence as long as it 
turns on its axis and wheels round the sun ; and that 
it is to continue those movements and pass through a 
succession of seasons as long as it continues to exist. 
It is a clear prediction, accordingly, that mankind are 
to continue on the earth and subsist on its annual 
crops as long as the earth itself continues in exist- 
ence. 

How long, then, is the earth thus to exist ? And 
how long are men to propagate on it ? The answer 
given by the Most High in the covenant with Noah 
is — for ever — through endless generations. ^^And 
God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, say- 
ing : And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, 
and with your seed after you, and with every living 
creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, 
and of every beast of the earth with you, from all that 
go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And 
I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall 
all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood ; 
neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the 
eaxth. And God said, this is the token of the coven- 
ant which I make between me and you, and every 
living creature that is with you, for QblJ? iimb P^^'" 
petual generations (generations of eternity). I do 
set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token 
of a covenant between me and the earth. And it 
shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over tlie 

earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud ; and I 

7^ 



154 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

will remember my covenant, which is between me 
and you and every living creature of all flesh ; and 
the bow shall be in the cloud ; and I will look upon 
it that I may remember tDbl? JD^^^lSl ^^^ covenant of 
eternity — the everlasting covenant between God and 
every living creature of all flesh that is upon the 
earth," Gen. ix. 8-16. 

The covenant that was made with Noah and every 
living creature, is thus declared to be unto genera- 
tions of eternity, or eternal generations ; that is gen- 
erations of men and every living creature, that are to 
continue in an endless succession. It is equivalent 
to a declaration, therefore, that mankind and the ani- 
mal tribes are to continue in an eternal series of gen- 
erations. The covenant also between God and every 
living creature of all flesh is called an everlasting 
covenant ; which, as the parties with whom it is made, 
must continue to subsist as long as the covenant itself 
continues and is verified, — is equivalent to a declara- 
tion that the posterity of Noah and the earth itself 
are to continue for ever in the conditions which that 
covenant contemplates ; and therefore that the bow 
is for ever to appear in the clouds ; that men are for 
ever to continue to behold it ; and thence that they 
are for ever to subsist here in the natural life, — in 
which, and in which alone, that pledge would be ap- 
propriate to them. See also Eccl. i. 4 ; Ps. civ. 5. 

These passages thus plainly teach that the earth is 
to exist for ever and under its present great laws ; 
that mankind are to inhabit it and raultiply on it in 



THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 155 

an endless series of generations ; and that they are 
to continue through all their endless successions to 
cultivate and subsist on its vegetable crops ; and 
thence are to continue in their natural corporeal life. 
It is not to be supposed that risen and glorified human 
beings will need the pledge of the rainbow that they 
are never to be drowned by a general deluge ; it is 
not to be supposed that they will cultivate the earth 
and live on its vegetable productions. It is to men 
in the natural life that these promises relate. 

That the expression, generations of eternity, de- 
notes generations that are to continue in an endless 
series, is clear from the frequent use in the Scriptures 
of the continuous generations of mankind as a mea- 
sure of eternity. Thus in the expression, Isa. li. 8, 
" My righteousness shall be to eternity and my salva- 
tion unto generation and generation''^ — QblSb- to 
eternity, is used as a parallelism with " unto genera- 
tion and generation ;" and the declaration, " My sal- 
vation shall be unto generation and generation,'' as- 
serts its eternity as absolutely as the expression, 
" My righteousness shall be le olam, to eternity," as- 
cribes eternity to that. This is confirmed moreover 
by the inconsistency of a different construction with 
the divine perfections. It is as contradictory to 
God's own eternity and unchangeable goodness, wis- 
dom, and purpose, to deny the eternity of his salva- 
tion, as it is to deny the eternity of his righteousness. 
The expressions are used in a like parallelism, Dan. 
iv. 3, 34, " How great are his signs ! And how mighty 



156 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

are his wonders ! His kingdom is an everlasting 
kingdom, and his dominion unto generation and gen- 
eration/^ "And I blessed the Most High, and I 
praised and honored him that liveth for ever, whose 
dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom 
is Tinto generation and generation/^ That these are 
parallels is made indispntable by the exhibition, in 
the first, of the kingdom, and in the other of the do- 
minion, as olam everlasting ; while in the first it is 
the dominion, and in the last the kingdom, that is 
" unto generation and generation." The expression 
" nnto generation and generation" is used therefore 
as equivalent to eternity, and assumes, accordingly, 
that the generations of mankind are to continue to 
succeed one another throughout the unending future. 
In Ps. cxlv. 13, eternities, and every generation and 
generation, are used as equivalents. " Thy kingdom 
is a kingdom Q^^^^blS^'bi of ^U eternities, and thy do- 
minion in every generation and generation." As the 
dominion corresponds in duration with the kingdom, 
its continuance in every generation and generation 
of mankind is identical with its continuance through 
all eternities. " Generation to generation," is used 
as the equivalent to eternity as the measure of God^s 
name and reign. " Jehovah, thy name is Qbl^b ^^ 
eternity ; Jehovah, thy memory is unto generation 
and generation :" Ps. cxxxv. 13. " Jehovah shall 
reign to eternity ; thy God, Zion, unto generation 
and generation :" Ps. cxlvi. 10. Here generation and 
generation is exhibited as the measure of God's eter- 



THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 157 

nal reign, as absolutely as eternity is. This use of 
the expression is, in effect, therefore, as absolute a 
declaration that the generations of mankind are to 
continue to succeed each other for ever, as a direct 
aflS.rmation that they are to continue in an endless 
succession would have been. As they are to be com- 
mensurate with his reign, they are to be as eternal as 
his reign is. And, finally, they are used by Joel iii. 
20, as equivalents in predicting the perpetuity of 
Judah's residence in their national land : ^' But Judah 
shall dwell to olam^ eternity, and Jerusalem to gener- 
ation and generation." These passages, like the 
promises to Noah, thus explicitly teach that the gen- 
erations of men, are to continue to succeed one 
another for ever, and are to be a measure in their 
perpetual series of the round of eternal ages. To 
maintain that this is not their meaning, is not only to 
contradict the plain equivalence of the endless gen- 
erations of mankind to eternity in these delineations 
of the Divine kingdom and reign ; but is to exhibit 
God as having used a measure of the continuance of 
his kingdom, his dominion, his name, and his memory, 
that is wholly incommensurate with, and altogether 
misrepresents them ; which were inconsistent with 
his veracity and wisdom. 

This use, moreover, of the ever continuing succes- 
sion of human generations, as a measure of God's 
eternal kingdom and reign, was not far-fetched or in- 
appropriate to the Hebrews, but was the most natu- 
ral, the most graphic, and the most impressive that 



158 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

could have been selected ; from the fact, that the pas- 
sages in which it is used, were all written after God 
had specifically given the land of Canaan to Abraham 
and his posterity, as an everlasting possession, and 
pledged, in a great number of promises and predic- 
tions, that they should dwell there and enjoy it in 
their successive generations to eternity. Having 
thus the assurance by the express revelation and 
covenant of God, that their nation is to subsist there 
for ever, and in the presence of contemporary Gen- 
tile nations, the endless generations of the race are 
the most natural and the most significant measure 
that could have been chosen by the Most High, to in- 
dicate to them the perpetuity of his dominion and 
reign over them. 

That the race is to continue to occupy the earth in 
an endless succession of generations, was clearly fore- 
shown and assured to the Hebrews by the gift to 
Abraham and his posterity of the land of Canaan as 
a possession to eternity, and the promise and predic- 
tion that his seed should inherit and enjoy it for ever. 
This gift of Canaan to Abraham and his seed, as an 
everlasting inheritance, and pledge that his posterity 
should continue in an endless succession of genera- 
tions to enjoy it, entered as a chief element into the 
covenant God made with that patriarch, and all his 
subsequent promises to the Israelites down to the 
time of their dispersion by the Romans, and has an 
equally prominent place in the predictions of their 
restoration and re-establishment in that land as his 



THE PERPETUITY OP THE HUMAN RACE. 159 

chosen people. Thus, his language to Abraham was, 
*' Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place 
where thou art, northward, and southward, and east- 
ward, and westward : For all the land which thou 
seest, to thee will I giv.e it, and to thy seed, ad olam, 
to eternity. And I will make thy seed as the dust 
of the earth : so that if a man can number the dust 
of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered." 
(Gen. xiii. 14-16.) The duration of the gift is thus 
explicitly defined as eternity ; and its eternity im- 
plies, therefore, the everlasting existence of the earth 
and of Canaan, and the endless continuance by suc- 
cessive generations of the Hebrews. And the pro- 
mise is literal, not metaphorical : there is no metaphor 
in the use of ad olam, to eternity. The supposition 
is contradictory to the law of the metaphor, which 
always ascribes to that to which it is applied, some 
character^ act, or condition that is not compatible 
with its nature, but only in some relation resembles 
what is true of it. But an endless continuance of the 
Hebrews by successive generations, is not inconsist- 
ent with their nature. Instead, it is precisely that ~ 
for which their nature is fitted, and which will cer- 
tainly take place, unless they are intercepted from it 
by some modification of their constitution, change in 
the state of the world, their removal to another 
scene of existence, or some other extraordinary mea- 
sure of Divine providence. Nor is it hj^perbolical, or 
a substitution of an infinite for a finite period ; — as it 
is not hyperbolical in reference to the nature of man, 



160 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

or the constitution of the world, to predicate eternity 
of the succession of human or Hebrew generations — 
inasmuch as their nature fits them for propagation 
through any period during which God pleases to con- 
tinue them in existence, whatever its length may be. 
That it is literal, and not hyperbolical, is shown more- 
over by the prediction that Abraham^s seed is to be 
as the dust of the earth, so that to number them will 
as much transcend the powers of a human mind, as to 
number the dust of the earth does. Such a promise 
would not be simply an extravagant hyperbole ; it 
would stupendously misrepresent man's power of enu- 
meration ; if, as is generally held, the Hebrews are 
to propagate only about one thousand years longer — 
as the number that at that time will have come into 
being, will not, at a very large estimate, rise, proba- 
bly, above 700,000,000 — the work of numbering whom 
would bear no comparison in vastness and endlessness 
to an enumeration of the dust of the earth. On the 
supposition, however, that they continue to multiply 
through eternal ages, their aggregate will at length, 
from their multitude and from the indeterminateness 
of the hosts that will ever still be to come into exist- 
ence, as absolutely transcend an individuals power 
of enumeration, as it surpasses one's power to number 
the dust of the earth. 

This gift was renewed in the covenant afterwards 
made with Abraham, of which circumcision was made 
the seal. 

" Thy name shall be Abraham ; for a father of 



THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 161 

many nations have I made thee. And I will make 
thee exceeding fruitful, and will make nations of thee, 
and kings shall come out of thee. And I will estab- 
lish my covenant betwixt me and thee, and thy seed 
after thee in their generations for a covenant, olo.m^ 
of eternity, to be a God unto thee and thy seed after 
thee. And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after 
thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the 
land of Canaan for a possession, olam, of eternity. 
And I will be their God,^^ Genesis xvii. 5-8. 

This covenant of eternity with Abraham and his 
seed after him in their generations^ and the gift to 
them of Canaan as a possession of eternity, again 
plainly implies that their generations are to continue 
to succeed each other for ever, and that the earth 
and Canaan also, are for ever to be their residence. 
For how can Canaan be the possession of Abraham's 
seed for eternity, if it does not continue for ever to 
exist ; if, as is generally imagined, after the lapse of 
a few hundred years more it is to be annihilated ; or 
to cease from being, as the land of Canaan ? How 
can God^s covenant with his seed in their generations 
to be their God, be a covenant of eternity, if at the 
end of a few hundred years, their generations reach 
a limit, and the whole of his posterity assume another 
form of being, and pass to another scene of life, in- 
volving a total abolition of that covenant ? For God^s 
promise to multiply his seed, and make a covenant 
with them of eternity as their God, of which circum- 
cision was the seal, and his gift to them of Canaan as 



162 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

an everlasting possession, could not be a promise 
and covenant of eternity, if after a few hundred years 
no more of his line come into existence to receive the 
seal of that covenant, and none of his posterity have 
"/)ossession of Canaan as their inheritance and home. 

The same promise of Canaan for an eternal posses- 
sion was made to Jacob : " God Almighty appeared 
unto me, and said unto me, Behold I will make thee 
fruitful, and multiply thee, and will make of thee a 
multitude of people ; and will give this land to thy 
seed for a possession — olam — of eternity,^' Genesis 
xlviii. 4. It was referred to by Moses in his prayer, 
as God's promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob : — 
*' Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, 
to whom thou swearest thine own self, and saidst 
unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of 
heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of, will I 
give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it, le olam, 
to eternity," Exodus xxxii. 13. It was repeated by 
Moses to Joshua : '' And Moses sware in that day, 
saying, surely the land whereon thy feet have trod- 
den shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's, ad 
olam, to eternity,'' Joshua xiv. 9. 

The gift and possession of the land are thus in all 
these covenants and promises so frequently repeated, 
defined as eternal. No other period is mentioned ; 
no intimations are given that the word olam, eterni- 
ty, is used in a modified sense. No expressions are 
employed which represent that the earth is not to 
exist for ever, and that imply therefore that its eterni- 



THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 163 

ty is a mere measure of a temporary continTiance of 
the thing given. The supposition that Canaan is to 
continue in being but for a few generations, and that 
their possession of it is to reach its end at the dis- 
tance at the utmost of forty or fifty centuries after 
Moses, is as contradictious to the language of these 
promises, as a similar supposition would be in respect 
to God's dominion, reign, and existence. 

That supposition, moreover, is precluded by ex- 
press assurances, that Zion, Jerusalem, and the land 
are to continue for ever, and that God is for ever to 
reign there. ^' They that trust in the Lord shall be 
as mount Zion which cannot be removed but abideth 
to olam, eternity,'^ Ps. cxxv. 1. ^' The Lord hath 
chosen Zion, he hath desired it for his habitation. 
This is my rest for ever. Here will I dwell, for I have 
desired it," Ps. cxxxii. 13, 14. ^' The Lord appeared 
to Solomon, and said unto him : I have heard thy 
prayer and thy supplication that thou hast made be- 
fore me : I have hallowed this house which thou hast 
built, to put my name there, ad olam, to eternity : and 
my eyes and heart shall be there (all days) perpetu- 
ally. And if thou w^lt walk before me, as David thy 
father walked, in integrity of heart, and wilt keep my 
statutes and my judgments, then will I establish the 
throne of thy kingdom upon Israel — olam — to eterni- 
ty," 1 Kings ix. 3-5. " The Lord has said, Li Jerusa- 
lem shall my name be — olam — to eternity," 2 Chron. 
xxxiii. 4. These, and a great number of other pas- 
sages, thus explicitly teach that Zion, Jerusalem, and 



164 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

the realm of Israel are to continue to eternity, and 
may therefore be the possession through unending 
ages of successive generations of Israelites. 

The gift of Canaan to the Hebrews as an everlast- 
ing possession, was not only thus made in the cove- 
nant with Abraham, and the promises to Isaac, Jacob, 
and the Israelites, down to the time of their estab- 
lishment there, but it was renewed and repeated with 
equal distinctness and emphasis in all the great pre- 
dictions uttered by Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, 
and others, of their exile for a period, because of their 
apostasy from God, and of their ultimate restoration 
and re-adoption as God's chosen people. 

" They shall call thee the city of Jehovah, the Zion 
of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou hast been 
forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, 
I will make thee an excellence — olam — of eternity, a 
joy of generation and generation. Violence shall no 
more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction 
within thy borders ; but thou shalt call thy walls sal- 
vation, and thy gates praise. The sun shall be no 
more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall 
the moon give light unto thee ; but Jehovah shall be 
thine (olam) everlasting light, and the days of thy 
mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be 
all righteous : they shall inherit the land — olam — to 
eternity," Isaiah Ix. 14-21. 

" Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I will take the 
children of Israel from among the heathen, whither 
they be gone, and I will gather them on every side, 



THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 165 

and bring them into their own land. And I will make 
them one nation in the land upon the mountains of 
Israel, and one king shall be king to them all ; and 
they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they 
be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. And 
David my servant shall be king over them, and they 
all shall have one shepherd. They shall also walk in 
my judgments, and observe my statutes and do them. 
And they shall dwell in the land that I have given 
unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have 
dwelt ; and they shall dwell therein, they and their 
children, and their children's children, ad olam, to 
eternity ; and my servant David shall be their prince, 
le olanij to eternity. Moreover, I will make a cove- 
nant of peace with them : it shall be a covenant, olam, 
of eternity with them ; and I will place them, and 
multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the 
midst of them, le olam, to eternity. My tabernacle 
also shall be with them : yea, I will be their God, 
and they shall be my people. And the nations shall 
know that I the Lord do consecrate Israel, when my 
sanctuary shall be in the midst of them, le olam, to 
eternity,^' Ezekiel xxxvii. 21-28. 

'' In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her 
that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, 
and her that I have afflicted ; and I will make her 
that halteth a remnant, and her that was cast far oflf 
a strong nation ; and the Lord shall reign over them 
in mount Zion henceforth, and ad olam, to eternity. 
And thou, tower of the flock, the stronghold of the 



166 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the 
first dominion : the kingdom shall come to the daugh- 
ter of Jerusalem," Micah iv. 6-8. 

There is a large number of similar predictions in 
these and the other prophets. Notwithstanding their 
long exile because of their sins, they are at length to 
be restored, and their possession of the land to eterni- 
ty is pledged to them after their return, as absolutely 
as it was anterior to their banishment. Though they 
have been so long driven from it, it is as assuredly 
theirs to eternity, as it would have been had it never 
been wrenched from their possession because of their 
revolt. 

In accordance with this, the continuance also to 
eternity of the Hebrews as a nation, and in their land, 
is promised with equal explicitness : 

" Thus saith the Lord which giveth the sun for a 
light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and 
stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea 
when the waves thereof roar ; the Lord of Hosts is 
his name ; if those ordinances depart from before me, 
saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease 
from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith 
the Lord, if heaven above can be measured, and the 
foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will 
ako cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they 
have done, saith the Lord. Behold the days come, 
saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the 
Lord, from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of 
the corner. And it shall not be plucked up, nor 



THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 167 

t]irov\'n down any more, le olam, to eternity/' Jere- 
miah xxxi. 35-40. 

Here the continuance of the Israelites as a nation 
before Jehovah, is declared to be as sure as the con- 
tinuance of his ordinance that the sun shall give light 
by day, and the moon and stars by night. As the 
sun, moon, and stars were created, and are upheld by 
Jehovah ; as it is his ordinance that they shall give 
light to the earth ; and as there is no cause either in 
them, or any other created thing, that can prevent 
them from filling that office ; it is certain that they 
v/ill for ever continue to shed light on the earth. — 
So in like manner, as God creates and upholds the 
Israelites, and ordains the laws by which they con- 
tinue their national existence by new births from 
age to age ; and there is no cause either in them, or 
any other part of the created imiverse that can pre- 
vent their continuing in that manner by successive 
generations for ever ; it is sure that they will so con- 
tinue as a nation before him for ever. The decree of 
God, which no created power can intercept from ac- 
complishment, makes the event in one case as certain, 
as his decree which cannot be intercepted from exe- 
cution, renders it in the other. And again, as it is 
impossible from our peculiar nature that heaven 
above can be measured by us, or the foundations — 
the central depths — of the earth beneath, be search- 
ed out by us ; — inasmuch as they arc wholly inacces- 
sible to us ; so likewise God's promise makes it im- 
possible that he should cast oft' all the seed of Israel, 



168 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

because of their rebellion. To cast them all off for 
ever, would be as inconsistent with his moral attri- 
butes, and contradictory to them, as the measurement 
of heaven above, and the searching of the depths of 
the earth beneath, are inconsistent with our physical 
attributes. Can a stronger assurance be framed or 
conceived that the seed of Israel are not to cease to 
be a nation before God to eternity ? 

." Then shall the Redeemer come to Zion, and unto 
them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the 
Lord. And as for me, this is my covenant with them, 
gaith the Lord. My Spirit that is upon thee, and my 
words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart 
out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, 
nor out of the mouth of thy seed^s seed, saith the 
Lord, from now and to eternity,^' Isaiah lix. 20, 21, 

This is as specific a pledge as language can express, 
that their seed^s seed, or their succession of genera- 
tions, is to continue to eternity. 

" For as the new heavens and the new earth which 
I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, 
so shall your seed and your name remain. And it 
shall come to pass from one new moon to another, 
and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come 
to worship before me, saith the Lord," Isaiah Ixvi. 
22, 23. 

" The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his 
voice from Jerusalem ; and the heavens and the earth 
shall shake ; but the Lord will be the hope of his 
people, and the strength of the children of Israel. 



THE PERPETcrrrr of the human race. 169 

So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God, dwell- 
ing in Zion, my holy mountain. Then shall Jerusa- 
lem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through 
her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, 
the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the 
hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah 
shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth 
of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley 
of Shittim ; Egypt shall be a desolation ; and Edom 
shall be a desolate wilderness. But Judah shall dwell 
to eternity, and Jerusalem unto generation and gen- 
eration," Joel iii. 16-20. 

The perpetuity of the Israelites, as a nation, and 
their residence in Canaan for ever, is thus made as 
certain, as the fulfilment of God's ordinance is, that 
the earth and the sun, the moon and the stars, shall 
exist for ever. As the new heavens and the new 
earth are to remain before him for ever ; as the Jeru- 
salem he is to create a rejoicing, is to be an excellence 
of eternity, a joy of generation to generation in an 
everlasting succession ; so their seed and their name 
are to remain for ever. They are to dwell in Jeru- 
salem to eternity. They are to people Judea through 
the round of unending ages. 



170 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

The covenant with Noah and his posterity, and the 
promises to Abraham of an ever continuing seed, and 
the everlasting possession by them of the land of Ca- 
naan, indicate, as we have shown in the preceding 
chapter, that the earth is forever to subsist and be 
the abode of human beings. 

On the institution of a monarchy over Israel, and 
the elevation of David to the throne, these pledges 
and predictions of the everlasting continuance of the 
nation and possession of the land of Canaan, were re- 
peated and confirmed by new promises and predic- 
tions that the kingdom of Israel should continue to 
eternity, and its throne be filled by the seed of David. 
Thus his promise to David was : — " I will set up thy 
seed after thee, and I will establish the throne of his 
kingdom, ad olarrij to eternity. Thy house and thy 
kingdom shall be established, ad olam, to eternity." 
And it was interpreted by David as a pledge of the 
perpetuity of his family, his throne, and the nation ; 
for in his praj^er in response to the promise, he said : 



THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 171 

" For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel, 
to be a people unto thee, ad olam^ to eternity, and 
thou Lord art become their God. And now, Lord 
God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy 
servant, and concerning his house, establish it, ad 
olam, to eternity. And let thy name be magnified, 
ad olaMj to eternity, saying, the Lord of Hosts is the 
God over Israel. And bless the house of thy s.ervant 
that it may continue before thee," 2 Samuel vii. 12- 
15 ; 24-29. That the Israelites are for ever to con- 
tinue as a nation, and as God's chosen people, is thus 
expressly recognised by David, and it is on that pur- 
pose that the promise is made to him of the establish- 
ment of his throne over them to eternity, and the 
everlasting reign on it of his seed. 

This promise is frequently renewed, and the eter- 
nal reign of David's posterity on his throne exhibited 
as one of the most essential and glorious of God's pur- 
poses of mercy to that people and the world. Thus, 
the author of Psalm Ixxxix. 4, 29, 36, 37, in singing 
of the mercies of Jehovah to eternity, and making 
known his faithfulness to generation and generation, 
cites, as an exemplification of it, this promise to David : 
— " I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have 
sworn unto David ; thy seed will I establish for ever, 
and build up thy throne to all generations : my mercy 
will I keep for him, ad olam, to eternity : and my cov- 
enant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I 
make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days 
of heaven. His seed shall endure le olam, to eternity, 



172 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

and his throne as the sun before me ; it shall be es- 
tablished as the moon, eternally. ^^ Here again, the 
continuance of the sun and moon, the days of heaven, 
and the succession of human generations, are exhibited 
as equivalents to eternity, and they and eternity itself 
are presented as measures of the continuance of Da- 
vid's throne and seed, and his reign over Israel. 

Other passages show that the great personage in 
whom these promises are to have their chief fulfil- 
ment is Christ, who is not only to be the King of Is- 
rael, but the King of all kings, and the Lord of all 
lords. 

" Unto us a child is born ; unto us a son is given ; 
and the government shall be upon his shoulder ; and 
his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the 
Mighty God, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of 
Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace 
there shall be no end upon the throne of David and 
upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with 
judgment and with justice from now and, ad olamy to 
eternity. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform 
this," Isaiah ix. 6, 7. 

Here both his humanity and his deity are asserted, 
and his reign on the throne of David, and over his 
kingdom, and exercise of the functions of a righteous 
monarch, it is declared, shall be to eternity. There 
is a like prediction in Jeremiah. 

'' Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will 
perform that good thing which I have promised 
[their restoration] unto the house of Israel and to 



THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 173 

the house of Judah, In those days, and at that time 
will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up 
unto David ; and he shall execute judgment and 
righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah 
be savedj and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this 
is the name whereby he shall be called, the Lord our 
Righteousness. For thus saith the Lord : David shall 
never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house 
of Israel ; neither shall the priests, the Levites, want 
a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kin- 
dle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. — 
And. the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, say- 
ing : Thus saith the Lord : If ye can break my cove- 
nant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and 
that there should not be day and night in their season ; 
then may also my covenant be broken with David my 
servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon 
his throne, and with the Levites the priests my minis- 
ters. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, 
neither the sand of the sea measured ; so will I mul- 
tiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites 
that minister unto me,''^ Jeremiah xxxiii. 14-22. 

It is thus not only promised most expressly that 
there shall never be a period after their restoration, 
when a descendant of David shall not sit upon the 
throne of the house of Israel, but it is represented to 
be as impossible that that purpose of Jehovah should 
be prevented from its accomplishment, as it is that 
men should annul his ordinance respecting the suc- 
cession of day and night. As to put an end to the 



174 THE PERPETUITY OP THE HUMAN RACE. 

succession of day and night is wholly out of the pow- 
er of men, so to prevent the accomplishment of God^s 
purpose, that the seed of David shall reign to eterni- 
ty on the throne of Israel, is out of the power of man 
and all other created causes. It is promised, more- 
over, that the descendants of David shall be multi- 
plied, so that their multitude shall transcend man's 
power of enumeration, as the stars of heaven do, in- 
finite hosts of which lie wholly beyond the sphere of 
his vision. It is to be as impossible to determine 
their hosts that are to come into being, as it is to as- 
certain the bulk of the sands of the sea by measuring 
them ; a result that is infallibly certain, if they con- 
tinue and multiply in an endless series of generations ; 
but that otherwise as certainly cannot take place con- 
sistently with the laws of nature. 

The prediction and pledge of the perpetuity of 
David's throne, and the reign of his seed on it for 
ever, was accordingly renewed at the annunciation 
of Christ's birth to Mary. '' Behold thou shalt con- 
ceive and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name 
Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son 
of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto 
him the throne of his father David ; and he shall 
reign over the house of Jacob through the ages ; and 
of his kingdom there shall be no end," Luke i. 31-33. 

All these predictions of the Messiah's reign, thus 
contemplate the continuance through eternal ages of 
the Israelites as a people, and his rule over them, on 
tlio throne of David, as their special monarch, in dis- 



THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 175 

tinction from other nations. It is everywhere pre- 
sented as an essential feature in his purposes ; an 
element of the greatest significance in the adminis- 
tration under which he is to rescue the world from 
ruin, and raise it to the beauty and glory of an obe- 
dient empire. 

Accordingly, in all the great prophetic representa- 
tions of his reign over the earth after he assumes its 
sceptre, his kingdom here is exhibited in the most 
express and emphatic manner, as to continue for ever, 
and over mankind in their division into nations, and 
in their natural life. Thus it was declared to Daniel, 
that on the destruction of the fourth kingdom repre- 
sented by the legs and feet of the great image ; '^ the 
God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall 
never be destroyed ; and the kingdom shall not be 
left to other people ; but it shall break in pieces and 
consume all other kingdoms, and it shall stand to 
eternities," Daniel ii. 44. It is to be a kingdom 
therefore in this world, and thence a kingdom over 
human beings. It is to extend itself over all the 
other kingdoms of the world, and therefore embrace 
the whole territory and population of the earth. It 
is to continue to eternity, and it is to be the king- 
dom of heaven, which Christ is to establish, and over 
which he is to reign. 

In the vision, accordingly, in the seventh chapter 
of Daniel, of the institution of this kingdom, on the 
destruction of the powers of the fourtli empire de- 
noted by the wdld beast, it is expressly represented 



176 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

that the dominion with which Christ is then to be in- 
vested, is the dominion of the earth ; that the sub- 
jects of his rule are to be the nations of the earth, 
and mankind therefore in the natural life ; and that 
his reign over them is to continue to eternity. 

" And I saw in the night visions, and behold one 
like a Son of man came in the clouds of heaven, and 
came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him 
near before him, and there was given him dominion, 
and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and 
languages should serve him. His dominion is a do- 
minion of eternity, which shall not pass away, and 
his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed,'^ vii. 
13, 14. 

No language could more clearly declare that the 
dominion with which he is thus to be invested on the 
destruction of the rulers of the fourth kingdom, is the 
dominion of this world ] that the rule he is to exercise 
is to be over mankind in the natural life ; that it is 
to extend to all the peoples, nations, and languages, 
into which they are divided ; and that it is to con- 
tinue to eternity. This is reiterated accordingly and 
confirmed in the interpretation which the revealing 
Spirit gave of the vision, in which it is declared, 
that on the judgment and destruction of the power 
denoted by the wild beast, ^' The kingdom and do- 
minion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the 
whole heaven, shall be given to the saints of the Most 
High, whose kingdom is a kingdom of eternity, and 
all dominions shall serve and obey him,^' v. 26, 27. 



THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN PACE. 177 

The scene of the kingdom is thus represented to be 
tinder our skies ; all that lies beneath the circuit of 
our atmosphere : it is declared to be a kingdom of 
eternity, and a kingdom in which the saints of the 
Most High shall reign ; which shows again that the 
people, nations, and tongues, over whom Christ is to 
reign and exercise an eternal dominion, are human 
beings in the natural, not in a glorified life ; for how 
else can the saints of the Most High have human sub- 
jects over whom they can reign ? The kingdom which 
the saints are to take on the destruction of the fourth 
beast, and possess for ever, is to be a kingdom of 
human beings, as much as the kingdoms of the beasts 
were. But if all the human beings v/ho are then to 
dwell on the earth are to be glorified, and all are to 
reign, they can have no human subjects. For if all 
reign, and thence are of equal authority in respect to 
each other, v^^hat can be clearer than that they will 
have no authority at all over one another, but will all 
stand on precisely the same level ? But the saints of 
the Most High who are to possess the kingdom, are, 
the prophecy teaches, the saints whom the little horn 
had worn out and slaughtered through a long succes- 
sion of ages ; and, as is shown in the vision in the 
Apocalypse of the first resurrection, are risen and 
glorified saints ; and therefore, as they are all to bo 
kings unto God and Christ, and are to reign with 
him, the subjects over whom they are to reign are 
indubitably the people, nations, and tongues, over 

whom Christ is to receive dominion ; and thence 

8-^ 



1TB THE PERPETOITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

those people, and nations, and tongues, are to con- 
tinue to exist on the earth, generation after genera- 
tion, like the kingdom of Christ over them, through 
eternal ages. 

To the same effect, in the Apocalypse, at the sound 
of the seventh trumpet, there were great voices in 
heaven, that proclaimed " The kingdom of this world 
is become our Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall 
reign for ever and ever," chap. xi. 15. The kingdom 
of the world which is then to become his, is the king- 
dom rov /coa/ioi;, of this globe; not of human beings in 
some other sphere, but of this earthy the birthplace 
and residence of mankind. It is here accordingly 
and over human subjects that he is to exercise his 
rule. This is shown, also, by the acts enumerated by 
the elders, who fell and worshipped, as to be exer- 
cised by him : " The time of his wrath,'' they pro- 
claimed, " has come against the hostile nations ; the 
time to destroy the corrupters of the earth ; and the 
time to reward those who fear his name — the living 
— both small and great." These are indisputably 
human beings and in the natural life. They are 
rulers and people, open and implacable enemies, and 
obedient children who inhabit the earth at Christ's 
second coming. And the period during which he is 
to reign over them, is, elg toH aiavag tCjv aluvov; through 
the ages of ages, — that is, to eternity. And finally, 
it is revealed with equal explicitness, that after 
Christ has come and commenced his reign on the 
eaj-th^ the nations are still to continue here, and are 



THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 179 

to be saDctified and saved. For the apostle declares, 
in respect to the New Jerusalem, which he saw de- 
scending out of heaven : — 

" And I saw no temple therein ; for the Lord God 
Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And 
the city has no need of the sun nor the moon, that 
they may light it : for the glory of God lights it, and 
the Lamb is its lamp. And the nations shall walk in 
its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their 
glory and honor to it. And its gates shall not be shut 
by day (for there is no night there), and they shall 
bring the glory and honor of the nations to it. And 
nothing shall enter it that is unclean, and that works 
defilement and falsehood ; but they only who are writ- 
ten in the Lamb's book of life. 

" And he showed me a river of water of life pure as 
crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and the 
Lamb. In the midst of the broad place, aud on each 
side of the river, was the tree of life, bearing twelve 
fruits, according to each month yielding its fruit, and 
the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the na- 
tions. And there shall be no curse any more. And 
the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it ; 
And his servants shall serve him. And they shall 
see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. 
And they shall rule as kings through the ages of 
ages," chap. xxi. 23-27 ; 5:xii, 1-5. 

It is thus as clearly revealed here, that tlio Lor^ 
God and the Lamb are to be visibly present with 
^l^Qse on the earth whom the city represouts, as it is 



180 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

that the city is to come down to the earth from hea- 
ven ; for they are to see his face, and he is to be their 
light. It is clear, also, that those who are represented 
by the city, who reign, and whom God lights with his 
glory as he lights the city, are a different class from 
the nations ; for the latter w^alk in the light of the 
city and bring their glory to it. And those who are 
symbolized by the city and. reign, are expressly de- 
clared in the vision to be the Lamb's wife — which is 
the denominative of the risen and glorified saints, xxi. 
9, 10. The nations are, therefore, the literal nations 
of the earth ; the people and tongues over whom 
Christ received dominion at his coming in the clouds, 
to the Ancient of days, Daniel vii. 13, 14, that they 
should serve him. This is shown, also, by their being 
healed by the leaves of the tree of life. The prophecy 
makes it as certain, accordingly, that the nations are 
to continue on the earth in the natural life after 
Christ's second coming, and during his reign and the 
reign of the saints through the ages of ages, as it does 
that he himself is to be visibly present and seen by 
the risen and glorified saints denoted by the city, and 
that they are to reign as kings through the ages of 
ages. 

The great purpose of God, that mankind shall con- 
tinue to inhabit the earth, and multiply through an 
endless series of generations, is thus taught in the 
Scriptures with great frequency and clearness. It is 
inwoven in the whole web of revelation. It is indi- 
cated in the command to the first pair, to be fruitful 



THE PERPETUITY OP THE HUMAN EACE. 181 

and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it; 
— a command which has never been rescinded, and 
which implies that the earth is to be the birthplace 
and dwelling of the human race as long as it exists. 
It is revealed in the covenant with Noah and his sons, 
for generations of eternity. It is expressly predicted 
and pledged in the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob, and the Hebrews on their establishment 
in Canaan. It is revealed and promised in the pledge 
to David, the first monarch ancestor of Christ, that his 
seed shall reign to eternity on his throne, and over 
his kingdom of Israel. It is revealed in the predic- 
tions that the Son of the Virgin, the God-man, was to 
be the descendant of David who should for ever reign 
on his throne. The prophecies of Christ's coming in 
the clouds and receiving the dominion of the earth, 
foreshow that mankind in the natural life — people, 
nations, and tongues, — are to be the subjects of his 
eternal reign on the earth. And finally, it is fore- 
shown in the visions of his reign on the earth after 
his second coming, that the nations are still to exist 
here, and are to continue in an endless series of gen- 
erations, to be the subjects of his sway. It is thus 
presented in a conspicuous manner at each of the 
great stages of the revelations God has made ; it en- 
ters as an element into all the covenants ; it is woven 
into all the great predictions and delineations of the 
kingdom and reign of Christ. It lies at the basis, as 
it were, of the work of redemption, and was contem- 
plated in all the measures that were preparatory to 



182 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 

Christ's incarnation ; it was contemplated in his offer- 
ing himself as a sacrifice for the whole world ; it is 
contemplated in his eternal priesthood, and the inter- 
cessions he is to offer for those coming unto God by 
him, through the round of eternal ages. And there 
are no representations in the Scriptures that are con- 
tradictory to these ; there is not a hint in them that 
the earth is ever to be annihilated, or that the race is 
ever to reach a point beyond which no new genera- 
tions or individuals are to come into existence. 

This great purpose of the Most High is one of the 
most important that he has revealed to us ; and the 
knowledge of it is essential in order to understand 
the successive measures of his administration, and es- 
pecially the incarnation, sacrifice, and reign of Christ. 
Without it, no adequate impression can be made on 
us of the vastness of his aims and the grandeur of the 
redemption he is to accomplish. Those who imagine 
that our earth is the only world that exists ; that the 
other planets, the sun and the stars, are mere balls, 
or glittering points set in the arch of the sky, of no 
greater bulk than the objects near us on the earth 
that are of the same apparent dimensions, are not in 
a greater error in respect to the illimitableness of 
God's empire, than they are in respect to the great- 
ness of Christ's work, and the infinite crowds who are 
to be redeemed by him from age to age, who imagine 
that the race has already nearly reached its bounds ; 
that within about a thousand years, the whole num- 
ber of human beings that are ever to exist, will have 



THE PERPETUITY OP THE HUMAN RACE. 183 

come into life ; and that the work of redemption, ac- 
cordingly, is to be circumscribed within those narrow 
limits. 

This great purpose of God respecting our race, con- 
futes the theory of Anti-millenarianism. That narrow 
scheme, the creature of human speculation, contem- 
plates no such everlasting work of redemption. It 
has no place for so vast and glorious a display of the 
Divine wisdom and goodness. Instead, it holds that 
the work of saving man is soon to reach its end ; that 
the redemption of a small part of those who come 
into existence, is all that God designs ; and that the 
grand measures by which a further extension of the 
evils of the fall is to be prevented are, the intercep- 
tion of the race from a further multiplication by a re- 
moval of them to other worlds, and the annihilation 
of the earth 



184 CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 



CHAPTEE XV. 

Christ's second comixg is to precede the millennium. 

The most important question between Millenarians 
and Anti-millenarians, respects the time of Christ's 
second coming, and the nature of his reign on the 
earth during the millennium. Pre-millennialists hold 
that he is to come at the commencement of the thou- 
sand years, and is to reign in person on the earth 
during that period and for ever thereafter. Anti- 
millenarians hold that his reign during the thousand 
years is to be only such as he now exercises by in- 
fluences, laws, and providences, and that he is not to 
come to raise the dead and judge the living till after 
the millennium has passed. It is, however, on alto- 
gether insufficient and arbitrary grounds. There are 
very few future events predicted with such clearness 
and amplitude as that his second coming is to pre- 
cede the thousand years of the saints' reign, and that 
he is then to establish his kingdom on the earth and 
reign over it in person. 

1. There is no direct prophecy or clear indication 
that he is not then to come and reign over the earth. 



CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 185 

There is no prophecy that either expressly declares, 
or naturally implies that his second advent is to fol- 
low, instead of preceding the thousand years. There 
is no declaration nor hint, nor any thing that can 
consistently with the laws of language be construed 
as teaching that his reign on the earth is not to be a 
reign in person and visible glory^ but only by the 
Spirit, by laws, and by providences. It is by an ar- 
bitrary rejection of the natural sense of the predic- 
tions respecting his coming and reign, and substitu- 
tion in their place of a fanciful meaning by a process 
of spiritualization, that Anti-millenarians force them 
to yield a seeming attestation to their theory. 

2. It is consonant to Christ's nature as Jehovah- 
man, and the ends of his mediation, that he should 
reign here in person in accomplishing the redemp- 
tion of the race. He is himself in his finite nature 
of our race. What so natural and appropriate as 
that he should reign in that person over our race, 
rather than in some distant realm that is the habita- 
tion of a different order of intelligent beings ? The 
work of redeeming men is the most important mea- 
sure of his administration, and is to exert a vaster 
and more momentous influence on the other orders of 
his subjects than any other act of his government. — 
How natural and fitting that this world where he is 
to make the most glorious display of his perfections, 
and whence the most powerful and beneficent influ- 
ences are to emanate to all other parts of his empire 



186 CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 

should be made the scene also of his visible presence, 
and the seat of his throne ? 

3. But it is expressly revealed that his coming in 
the clouds of heaven and receiving the dominion of 
the earth, is to take place before the conversion of 
the nations, and therefore is to precede the millenni- 
um. After the vision of the judgment and destruc- 
tion of the fourth beast, the prophet Daniel says: "I 
continued to look in the visions of the night, and be- 
hold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of 
heaven, and he advanced toward the Ancient of days, 
and they brought him near before him. And there 
was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, 
that all people, and nations, and tongues should serve 
him ; his dominion is an everlasting dominion which 
shall not pass away ; and his kingdom one that shall 
not be destroyed.'^ Chap. vii. 13, 14. His coming 
thus in person in the vision, is, according to the law 
of divine symbols, representative of his really coming 
in person in the clouds at the epoch of the destruc- 
tion of the powers denoted by the fourth beast to 
which the vision relates ; and is his second coming as 
he himself has shown in his profession to the high priest 
that he was " the Son of God,^^ and declaration that, 
" hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting at the 
right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of hea- 
ven,'' Matt. xxvi. 63, 64; and xxiv. 30 ; and xxv. 31. 
That it is to precede the conversion of the nations is 
seen from its being of the epoch of the destruction 
of the persecuting horn of the beast that is to prevail 



CHRIST TS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 187 

against the saints till the time of Christ's coining ; 
and from the consideration that it is then that the 
empire of this world is to be first given to Christ, 
and that his reception of it is to be in order that all 
people, nations, and languages may serve him, which 
they will never previously have done. There are 
symbolizations also in the Apocalypse of his coming 
with his heavenly hosts in power and glory at the 
destruction of the beast and its armies under the 
sixth seal and the seventh trumpet, which are indis- 
putably to precede the millennium, Rev. xix. 11-21 ; 
xi. 15-18 ; vi. 12-17. These visions admit of no other 
construction. They determine the time of his second 
coming to be that of the overthrow of the anti-chris- 
tian powers, with as absolute certainty as it could 
have been expressed in a language prophecy. It is 
revealed also with equal clearness in the language 
prophecies. Thus, it is foreshown that the destruc- 
tion of the man of sin is to take place at the time of 
Christ's coming, because that usurper is to be con- 
sumed by the spirit of his mouth, and destroyed by 
the brightness of his coming, 2 Thess. ii. 6, and that 
the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with 
his mighty angels in flaming fire, when he takes ven- 
geance on them that know not God, and that obey 
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall 
be punished with everlasting destruction from the 
presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, 
when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and 
admired in all them that believe, 2 Thess. i. 7-10. 



188 CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 

The time when he " comes to be glorified in his 
saints/^ is the time when he comes to raise them from 
death in glory, and exalt them to thrones in his king- 
dom. 

4. It is revealed that his coming is to be at the re- 
surrection of the holy dead, and that is to take place 
at the commencement of the thousand years. " For 
this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that 
we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the 
Lord, shall not go before them which are asleep. For 
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a 
shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump 
of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first,^' 1 
Thess. iv. 15, 16. ^' For as in Adam all die, even so 
in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in 
his own band ; Christ airapxv^ first ; sneLra, afterwards 
they that are Christ^s at his coming : Eira, afterwards, 
(at a still later period,') the last band,^^ 1 Cor. xv. 22— 
24. But the resurrection of the holy dead is to take 
place before the thousand years, as is expressly fore- 
shown. Rev. XX. 4-6, where the symbols of their re- 
storation to life and elevation to thrones, are said by 
the Spirit to be symbols of the first resurrection ; 
and it is declared that they are to reign with Christ 
during the thousand years. As then their resurrec- 
tion is to precede the thousand years of their reign 
with Christ, and as Christ^s second coming is to take 
place at the time of their resurrection, his coming is 
to precede the thousand years of their reign with 
him. 



CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 189 

This is confirmed also by the fact that those who are 
to be raised are to be divided into bands, and that 
those bands are to be raised at different periods. 

Now as the resurrection foreshown, 1 Cor. xv. 22, 
is the resurrection of mankind universally that die ; 
and as those who are to rise are to be distributed into 
separate bands and according to their character, as is 
shown by the resurrection of those who are Christ^s 
in a band by themselves at his coming, it is clear that 
the unholy are to form a band by themselves. And 
as the bands are to rise in succession at different pe- 
riods, it is clear that the band of the unholy is to rise 
at a different and later time than the holy. 

That the unholy are to form a band by themselves 
is seen from the declaration, '^ All shall be made alive, 
but every one in his own band f and the definition 
of the first band as Christ, perhaps including those 
who rose with him ; and of the second as consisting 
of those who are Christ's. As the unholy are not in- 
cluded in the second band, they must of course form 
another band by themselves ; and this is indicated 
by the term i^iCj — his own band, which doubtless 
means the band to which he belongs by his character, 
and the nature of the resurrection he is to receive. 
Every one who is Christ's belongs to the band that is 
to be raised in glory and admitted to immortal life in 
his kingdom, and that band is his ow^i band ; that in 
which his character and relations to Christ place him. 
Every one who is not Christ's, belongs to the band 
whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of 



190 CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 

life, and who are to be raised to shame and contempt. 
That is the host in which his character and relations 
to Christ place him. It is as clear, therefore, from 
the distribution of them which is to take place into 
bands according to their character and the nature of 
the resurrection of which they are to be the subjects, 
that the unholy are to form a band by themselves, as 
it is that the holy are, who it is expressly shown are 
to be raised as a band by themselves at Christ's 
coming. 

It is equally certain, also, from the designations of 
time, that the resurrection of these bands is to be at 
different periods. The terms aTzapxv, ^rceira, and elra are 
designations of times, and as they are here used, of 
times that are in a series. The first, Christ ; which, 
as the event has shown, precedes that next in order, 
more than eighteen centuries. "^Trelra, afterwards, 
they that are Christ's at his coming. Elra, after that 
— that is, at a still later period, after an interval, as 
the Apocalypse shows, of a vast round of ages, ro raog, 
the last band in the train. Elra as clearly designates 
a time that is subsequent to that denoted by eTTetra, 
when those who are Christ's are to be raised; as 
eneiTa denotes a time that is subsequent to Christ's re- 
surrection. The express and sole office of tTretra is to 
show that the resurrection of the holy dead is to take 
place at a distance from Christ's resurrection, and 
that distance is defined as extending to his coming : 
and the express office, in like manner, of elra, is to 
show that the resurrection of the last band is to take 



CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 191 

place at a later period than the resurrection of the 
holy ; and its period is defined as that at which 
Christ, having put down all his enemies, is to deliver 
up to the Father the sceptre of the universe which 
he received at his exaltation, and commence his ever- 
lasting reign, exclusively, over this world and race. 
Eha is used in this sense, Mark iv. 28 : " For the earth 
spontaneously brings forth fruit, first the blade ; eira 
then, that is, next, the ear ; elra, afterwards the full 
grain in the ear.'' It is used in a like manner, 1 Cor. 
xii. 28, to denote an analogous gradation in a series 
of miraculous gifts. ^' And God has placed some in 
the church, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly 
teachers, eTceira, next after^ miracles, elra after them, 
gifts of healing, helps, governments.'' They are used 
in .the same manner in this discussion respecting the 
resurrection. *^ He was seen of Peter ; elraj next after 
by the twelve ; eTrecTa, afterw^ards by more than five 
hundred brethren at once ; enecra, after that by James ; 
elra, next after that by all the apostles ; ecrxarov 6e ttuvtov, 
last of all by me." To deny, then, that these terms 
are used to denote successive times, and that eha 
(v. 24) denotes a later time than eneiTa (v. 23), and 
treat it as though it were t6t€, then, and stood for the 
same time as tVeira, is to deny its clear and indubitable 
meaning, and assign it one that is foreign to its usage. 
It is to disregard, also, the structure of the sentence 
of which elraroTeXog is a Continuation. Elra is not the 
beginning of a new sentence and a new subject. Had 
a new sentence begun after irapovcjca^ Christ's coming, 



1 92 CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 

it would have been introduced by rbre, then, and icai yip, 
or some other word, or words, indicating a new sen- 
tence and another event, and its contemporaneousness 
with Christ's -^apovAa, coming. Instead of that, elra ro 
raof is a continuation of the sentence commenced in 
V. 23, and completes the series of times of which 
i.'Kapxn, and '^^ura, are the first and second. And finaUy, 
this is confirmed by the specification which foUows, 
of the time to which Ara refers, namely, brav, when 
Christ shall deliver up to the Father the kingdom 
which he received at his exaltation ; and the specifi- 
cation also, of that time, as ira,., when he shall have 
put down all his enemies, of which the last that is to 
be put down is death, which is to be after the period 
denoted by the millennium has passed (Rev. xx. 14) ; 
while his coming, at which his own people are to be 
raised, is to precede that epoch by a vast round of 
ages (Dan. vii. 13, 14 ; Eev. xi. 15 ; xx. 4-6.) The 
time of the resurrection of the last band, is thus spe- 
cifically defined as the time of the last judgment, when 
the rest of the dead who are not to live till after the 
thousand years are past are to be raised ; (Eev. xx. 
4^6, 14) ; precisely as the time of the resurrection of 
the' second band is defined, as the time of Christ's 
second coming. 

It is clear then beyond the possibility of refutation, 
that those who are to be raised, are to be divided 
into bands according to their character and the nature 
of the resurrection they are to experience ; and that 
the resurrection of these bands is to take place sue- 



CHRIST IS TO COME BEFOEE THE MILLENNIUM. 193 

cessively at times that are to be separated from each 
other by wide intervals. The resurrection of the 
holy dead is to be at a distance of at least near nine- 
teen centuries after Christ's resurrection. The re- 
surrection of the unholy is not to take place till after 
the period denoted by the thousand years of Christ's 
reign on the earth with his saints, and is to follow 
Christ's coming, therefore, at the distance of three 
hundred and sixty thousand years. 

5. His coming is to take place at the close of the 
tribulation of the Israelites that followed their con- 
quest and dispersion by the Romans. Thus Christ 
foretold that, "They shall fall by the edge of the 
sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations ; 
and Jerusalem shall be trodden by the Gentiles, till 
the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled; and there shall 
be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the 
stars ; and upon the earth distress of nations with 
perplexity ; the sea and the waves roaring ; men's 
hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after 
those things which are coming on the earth ; for the 
powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall 
they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with 
power and great glory. And when these things be- 
gin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your 
heads ; for your redemption draweth nigh," Luke 
xxi. 24-28. The redemption of that people there- 
fore is to take place at the time of Christ's coming in 
the clouds. This is foretold also by Peter, Acts iii. 

20, 21, where he declares that Avhen the times of re- 

9 



194 CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 

freshing shall come from the presence of Jehovah, he 
shall send Jesus Christ — before preached unto them 
— whom the heavens must retain imtil the times of the 
restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the 
mouth of his holy prophets. But the times of the 
restitution of all things which God has promised, are 
the times of the restoration of the Israelites to their 
ancient land and to their relation to God as his cho- 
sen people. Christ is to return from the heavens 
therefore at that epoch, and commence his reign on 
the earth. 

This is foretold also with equal explicitness, Zech. 
xiv. 1-16, where it is declared that when in the day 
of Jehovah he shall gather all nations against Jeru- 
salem to battle ; the Lord shall go forth and fight 
against those nations, and his feet shall stand in that 
day upon the mount of Olives, and the Lord my God 
shall come and all the saints with thee ; and that then 
the Lord shall be king over all the earth ; and there- 
after there shall be no more utter destruction, but 
Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited; and "such as 
are left of the nations that come against Jerusalem 
shall go up from year to year to worship the King, 
the Jehovah of hosts, and to keep the feast of taber- 
nacles.'' There is a like prediction also, Isaiah Ixvi. 
15-22. But the restoration of the Israelites is to 
take place at the time of the conversion of the Gen- 
tiles. For it is to be at the time when the fulness of 
the Gentiles comes in, that the Redeemer is to come 
to Zion, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob : and 



CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 195 

it is then that God is to have mercy on all, both Gen- 
tiles and JewS; who are previously to be shut up in 
unbelief. The restoration of the Israelites is to take 
place also at the time of the creation of the new hea- 
vens and the new earth ; for then God is to " create 
Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy ; and he 
is to rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in her people, and 
the voice of weeping is no more to be heard in her, 
nor the voice of crying f but they are to be freed 
from the curse, and crowned with unmixed blessed- 
ness and peace, Isaiah Ixv. 17-25, and the creation 
of the new heavens and new earth is to take place at 
the time that " the tabernacle of God" descends from 
heaven and " is with men and he dwells with them, 
and they become his people, and God himself shall 
be with them, their God." For that is the time when 
he is to ^' make all things new," Rev. xxi. 1-5. It is 
therefore at the commencement of the millennium. 
For that is the time of the resurrection of the saints, 
whom the new Jerusalem, the tabernacle of God, sym- 
bolizes, who are to reign with him during the mil- 
lennium. Rev. XX. 4-6, and the time of their marriage 
as the bride to the Lamb, Rev. xxi. 9 ; xix. 7-9, and 
that is to take place soon after the destruction of 
great Babylon under the seventh trumpet and sev- 
enth vial, Rev. xix. 1-6. 

Such are the clear, specific and uniform teachings 
of the Scriptures. The revelation they make is, be- 
yond all room for debate, that the second coming of 
Christ is to take place before the conversion of the 



196 CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLEXXIUM. 

nations and liis reign of a thousand years with the risen 
saints. It is to treat those nnmerous passages as with- 
out meaning to deny that that is their import. It is 
also to impeach the wisdom and truth of God. Why 
did he employ these numerous, specific, and consist- 
ent designations and definitions of the time of Christ's 
second coming, if the time of his coming is not that 
which they denote ? Why is no other period desig- 
nated? Why are all the predictions of his advent in 
harmony with these? Among all the revelations God 
has made of future events, there is scarcely one that 
is more clearly and frequently foreshown, or more in- 
dubitably certain than that Christ's second coming 
is to take place under the seventh trumpet, and is to 
precede his thousand years' reign and the conversion 
of the world. 



CHRIST^S REIGN ON THE EARTH. 197 



CHAPTER XVI. 

CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH DURING THE 
MILLENNIUM. 

But Christ is not only to come at the commence- 
ment of the millennium ; he is to reign here in per- 
son during that period and for ever thereafter. 

First, This is seen from the fact that the earth is 
then to become his kingdom, Daniel vii. 13, 14, Rev. 
xi. 15. It is then to become his kingdom, not simply 
in contradistinction from its being the kingdom of 
the beast and of Satan, but in distinction from all 
other parts of the universe. It is to be distinc- 
tively and peculiarly his kingdom as Christ, the 
King of kings, and Lord of lords ; and it is the scene 
therefore in which he is to reign in person. He is 
surely to reign where his kingdom is ; not where it 
is not. To maintain that he is not to reign in person 
here after his investiture with the dominion of the 
earth, is equivalent to maintaining that it is not in 
fact his kingdom in the highest sense, his peculiar 
dominion as the Messiah — but is only subject to 
his legal and providential sway, like other worlds 



198 CHRIST IS TO REIGN ON THE EARTH 

that are not the seat of his personal reign, and that 
the world where he reigns in visible glory, is there- 
fore the real seat of his empire, and in the most em- 
phatic sense his peculiar kingdom. The proclamation 
of the many voices from heaven at the sound of the 

seventh trumpet, kyhero fj ^aGLleia Tov KOGfiov Tov Kvpiov yjLtcJv 
Kol TOV XpiGToiJ avrovj kol paai7.evGei elg rovg alcovag tov aluvcov; 

"the kingdom of this world (the earth) is become 
our Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall reign through 
the ages of ages,'' is a j)roclamation that he is to reign 
here J not somewhere else. To maintain that he is not 
to reign here is to offer it a direct contradiction. It 
is equivalent indeed to denying that he is to reign 
anywhere in person. For w^here is he to reign in 
person, if not in his own special and peculiar king- 
dom as Jehovah-Jesus, the Redeemer of the world ? 

Secondly, That he is to reign here in person, is seen 
from the consideration that his throne is here. For 
his throne is the throne of David. Thus, it was pre- 
dicted of him by Isaiah : " For unto us a child is born, 
unto us a son is given ; and the government shall be 
upon his shoulder ; and his name shall be called, 
Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Ever- 
lasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase 
of his government and peace there shall be no end 
upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to 
order it, and to establish it with judgment and with 
justice from henceforth even forever," Isaiah ix. 6, 7. 
It was foretold also to Mary at the annunciation, that 
she should "bring forth a Son and call his name Jesus. 



DURING THE MILLEXNIUM. 199 

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the 
Highest ; and the Lord God shall give nnto him the 
throne of hisfatlier David^ and he shall reign over the 
house of Jacob forever ; and of his kingdom there 
shall be no end/^ Lnke i. 31-33. But the house of 
Jacob as a kingdom is the family of the descendants 
of Jacob in this world ; not in some other part of the 
universe. The denial that it is in this world that he 
is to reign over them, implies that they form a king- 
dom by themselves in some other orb. Where have 
Anti-millenarians any authority for such a virtual re- 
presentation ? And v^^hat do they gain by denying 
that Christ's throne is to be in this v/orld, where his 
kingdom is to be ; if in order to it, they are to imply 
that he reigns in person over the descendants of Ja- 
cob as a kingdom in some other part of his domin- 
ions ? The throne and kingdom of David also are in 
this world. His subjects were the Israelites ; and it 
was over them that it was promised that his seed 
should reign for ever. ^^ I took thee from the sheep- 
cote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my 
people^ over Israel . . . and I will appoint a place for 
my people Israel, and will plant them that they may 
dwell in a place of their own, and move no more ; 
neither shall the children of wickedness afl3ict them 
any more. . . . And thine house and thy kingdom 
shall be established for ever before thee ; thy throne 
shall be established for ever.'' And to this David 
answers : " Thou hast confirmed to thyself thy peo- 
ple Israel, a people unto thee for ever, and thou Lord 



200 CHRIST IS TO REIG-N" ON THE EARTH 

art become their God ; and now Lord God the 
word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, 
and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and 
do as thou hast said ; and let thy name be magnified 
for ever, saying : The Lord of hosts is the God over 
Israel ; and let the house of thy servant David 
be established before thee,'^ 2 Sam. vii. 8-16, 25, 
26. David^s kingdom was thus the kingdom of 
Israel, and it is over them that his throne is to be 
established forever ; not any other people. To deny 
therefore that Christ is to reign over them in this 
world, is either to deny that he is to reign over them 
at all, or else to imply that they are to form a king- 
dom by themselves in some other sphere, and that he 
is to reign over them there; each of which is in direct 
contradiction to the teachings of these and other simi- 
lar passages. As God has confirmed his peojole Is- 
rael to be a people unto him, to eternity ; and as 
they are therefore to subsist here to eternity as a 
distinct people, to deny that they are to be David^s 
kingdom, and that Christ is to reign over them on his 
throne, is to offer a point blank denial to the predic- 
tions of these passages and pronounce them false. — 
They must be false, if the Israelites who are to con- 
tinue a people in this world for ever, are not to con- 
tinue to be the kingdom of David. They must be 
false, if David's great descendant, Jesus, does not 
reign on his throne here over the house of Jacob for 
ever. There is no medium between rejecting this 
whole class of prophecies, and admitting the great 



DURING THE MILLENNIUM. 201 

truth they so clearly proclaim, that Christ is for ever 
to reign here in person on the throne of David over 
the people of Israel. 

Thirdly. His throne is to be on Mount Zion. The 
Lord proclaims in answer to the rage of the nations 
who take counsel against his anointed — " Yet have I 
set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare 
the decree : Thou art my Son ; this day have I be- 
gotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give the heathen 
for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the 
earth for a possession. Thou shalt break them with 
a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash them like a potter's 
vessel. Be wise now therefore ye Kings ; be in- 
structed ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with 
fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest 
he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his 
wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they 
that put their trust in him.'^ Ps. ii. 6-11. Can any 
thing be clearer, than that the hill of Zion on which 
the King is to be enthroned, is the literal Zion of Je- 
rusalem, and that the reign here depicted is to be in 
this w^orld and over human beings ? It is predicted 
also by Micah that on the restoration of the Israelites 
the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion to eter- 
nity. " In that day" — when all nations are to be con- 
verted, and to beat their swords into ploughshares 
and their spears into pruning hooks and learn war no 
more — " saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halt- 
eth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her 

that I have afflicted ; and I will make her that halted 

9^ 



202 CHEIST IS TO REIGN ON THE EARTH 

a remnantj and her that was cast far off, a strong na- 
tion ; and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount 
Zion from this time to eternity/' chap. iv. 6.. 7. The 
Lord is to reign then over the Israelites in Zion, 
from the time of their restoration to eternity. And 
as Christ is the Lord who is to reign over them, he is 
to reign there in person in his complex nature as 
God-man : otherwise he will not reign over them in 
Zion. If he were to reign over them not in person, 
but only by laws, influences, and providences, he 
would no more reign over them on Mount Zion, than 
he would in any other place where he made known 
his laws to men, breathed the influences of his Spirit 
on them, and exerted over them a providence. The 
prediction that he is to reign in Zion, in contradis- 
tinction from other places, is a nullity, unless he is to 
reign there in person. 

Fourthly. He is to reign where the risen saints 
reign ; and they are to reign on the earth. " Blessed 
and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection : 
on such the second death has no power ; but they 
shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign 
with him the thousand years.'' Rev. xx. 6. But they 
are to reign on the earth ; The living creatures and 
elders sang, " Thou art worthy to take the book and 
to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and 
hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood out of every 
kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ; and 
hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we 
shall reign on the earilij'' Rev. v. 9, 10. And it is fore- 



DUEING THE MILLENNIUM. 203 

shown, Daniel vii. 13, 14, 18, 22, 27, that when on the 
destruction of the powers denoted by the fourth beast, 
Christ is to receive the dominion of the earth, that all 
people, nations, and tongues may serve him, "the 
saints of the Most High also shall take the kingdom 
and possess the kingdom to eternity, and to eternity 
of eternities," and that " the kingdom and dominion, 
and the greatness of the kingdom," which " shall be 
given" to them, is " the kingdom under the whole 
heaven ;" that is the whole circuit of the earth which 
lies beneath the atmosphere. As then the saints are 
indisputably to reign on the earth, and nowhere else, 
as far as we are taught, and as he is to reign with 
them ; — he is as indisputably to reign on the earth ; 
and in person ; as otherwise he will no more reign 
with them, than the Father will, or the Holy Spirit. 
But that is in contradiction to the revelation, Daniel 
vii. 13, 14 ; Ps. ii. 6 ; Rev. xi. 15 ; xix. 16, and others, 
which exhibit Christ as constituted the King of the 
earth by the Father, and as reigning over it as his 
peculiar kingdom. 

Fifthly. And finally he is exhibited in the Apoca- 
lypse as reigning over the earth in person after his 
second coming, raising the holy dead, and establish- 
ing his kingdom on the earth. Thus we are told that 
on the descent of the New Jerusalem, the symbol of 
the risen saints, " the throne of God and of the Lamb 
shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him, And 
they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their 
foreheads : And there shall be no night tlieve ; and 



204 CHRIST IS TO REIGJS" ON THE EARTH 

they need no light of lamp, nor light of sun ; for the 
Lord God sheds light upon them ; and they shall 
reign through the ages of ages. ^^ Eev. xxii. 3-5. As 
his throne is to be amidst the risen saints, and his 
face is to be seen by his servants, he is to be present 
and reign in person on the earth. 

That he is to come in the clouds at the commence- 
ment of the thousand years, and is thereafter to reign 
in person and glory forever on the earth, is thus taught 
with a directness, a fulness, and a certainty with 
which few other measures of his administration are 
revealed ; and cannot be denied, without a palpable 
and wanton contradiction to a great class of the most 
important predictions, and a virtual surrender of the 
word of God to an arbitrary construction that discards 
its indisputable teachings, and substitutes a lawless 
theory in its place ; — a misrepresentation and perver- 
sion that if applied to human writings that concern 
the rights and well being of men, would be regarded 
as unpardonable. 

But why, it will perhaps be asked, if Christ is thus 
to reign on the earth, did he not establish his throne 
here immediately after his resurrection ? Why did 
he depart from the earth to heaven, and exercise 
through so many ages an administration over mankind 
like the present ? The answer is : 

1. He ascended to heaven, sat down at the right 
hand of the majesty on high, and assumed the sceptre 
of the universe, that all orders of God's obedient sub- 
jects might be brought to a knowledge of him as the 



DUEING THE MILLENNIUM. 205 

Eternal Word in union with man, and of the nature of 
his work as Redeemer ; and might acknowledge, wor- 
ship, and glorify him in that union and station, and 
that the wisdom, righteousness, and grace displayed 
in the salvation of the guilty might thereby be made 
the means of blessing to all his holy children through- 
out his illimitable realms. This end, as we have seen, 
is of infinite significance ; and it has been accom- 
plished, doubtless, far more effectually, than it would 
had he reigned since his resurrection on the earth. 
For he has not only been beheld by the angelic orders 
in his exaltation to the throne of the universe, the 
acts of his administration witnessed, and a knowledge 
of his sway doubtless communicated by them to all 
other ranks of intelligent beings ; but not improbably 
he has revealed himself in his incarnate nature to all 
the holy inhabitants of his empire, whatever their na- 
ture may be, and received their direct homage as 
God-man, their creator, upholder, and ruler, and the 
Saviour of mankind. Many of them may have beheld 
him, knelt in adoration in his presence, and received 
the smile of his love, many times. As he reigns in 
visible glory in the presence of the angels and the 
spirits of just men made perfect, why should it not be 
deemed likely that he reveals himself also in his hu- 
man nature, to the inhabitants of other worlds, re- 
ceives their homage, and blesses them Avith the tokens 
of his favor ? The instruction of his boundless king- 
dom by these and other means in the wonders of his 
incarnation and death, and the aims of his everlastini;* 



206 CHRIST IS TO REIGN ON THE EARTH 

reign, is a vast and momentous work, and may require 
the long period through which he continues his sway 
in heaven. 

2. His withdrawal from the earth was obviously 
necessary to his exercising an administration over 
men like the present, in which they should be put to 
severe tests, and left to act out their dispositions to- 
ward him with little restraint. Had he be^n present 
in the dazzling splendors in which he is clothed in 
heaven, how could men have doubted his existence or 
deity? How could they have questioned his right 
and power to reign over them? How could they 
have rejected his salvation, and attempted to substi- 
tute another in its place ? How could they have un- 
dertaken to usurp his throne, constitute themselves 
saviours, and lead men to look to them for redemp- 
tion ? How could they have paid their homage to 
idols, and demons, and reptiles? How could they 
have forgotten him, scorned him, and turned to the 
treasures and pleasures of this world for happiness ? 
How could they have made war on one another in his 
presence, and wreaked their ferocious passions in tor- 
turing and slaughtering one another ? The restraints 
under which they would have been j)laced, the flood 
of truth that would have been poured on them, would 
have rendered it impossible. It was a necessary con- 
dition to their being left to act out their hearts in all 
the forms of evil they now do, that they should be 
exempted from the overpowering realizations with 
which his personal presence would impress them ; — 



DURING THE MILLENNIUM. 207 

that they should be placed in a sphere like the pre- 
sent, in which he is to be seen only by the eye of 
faith and through his works and word. As then the 
exhibition which is now taking place of the heart of 
man, is, as we have shown, an essential preliminary 
to the redemptive dispensation that is hereafter to 
be instituted, and continued forever ; so Christ's reign 
in heaven during the present economy was doubtless 
necessary in order to that trial and exhibition of the 
human heart ; and therefore to the gracious dispen- 
sation that is to follow through everlasting years. 

3. It was necessary that Christ should reign in hea- 
ven during the present economy, that Satan might 
continue his kingdom here, and exert the vast agency 
he has in tempting mankind, and leading them to the 
various forms of sin to which he has prompted them. 
It is inconsistent with the dignity and majesty of 
Christ that Satan should carry on his war against him 
in his immediate presence ; deny his being, impeach 
his character, resist his rights, misrepresent his work, 
and assail and pervert the doctrines of his word to 
his face, as it were, and tempt and betray and destroy 
his subjects amidst the unveiled glories of his deity 
and throne. It is incompatible with his sanctitude, 
and would involve his holy subjects in perplexity and 
horror, and overthrow his authority. Even men when 
they have directly affronted him in the scene where 
he revealed himself, have been instantly stricken with 
his avenging power, as Nadab and Abihu and Korah 
and his company. 



208 CHRIST IS TO REIGN ON THE EARTH 

4. The ends of this admmistration, however, will 
soon be accomplished, and he will come and receive 
the earth as his special kingdom as Messiah, the King 
of kings, and Lord of lords ; and it will then be as es- 
sential that he shonld reign here in person and visible 
glory, as it now is that he should reign in person in 
heaven ; his visible presence will doubtless contribute 
as much to the instruction and impression of mankind, 
as the visible revelation of himself now does to the 
instruction and impression of the inhabitants of other 
worlds ; and the supposition that he is not to reign 
here personally and visibly, is as contradictory to his 
nature, his glory, and the ends of his administration, 
as the supposition is that his reign in heaven is not 
visible : but that he shrouds himself from the eyes of 
his holy creatures, and allows them to know him only 
through his works and his word. 

We see in his purpose to come and reign in person 
on the earth and enter on the redemptive dispensa- 
tion he has foreshown, the reason that the apostles 
and early believers looked with so much desire to 
the hour of his second coming. It is to be not only 
the epoch of their complete redemption ; but of the 
redemption of the world. It is to be an era of infi- 
nite significance to the whole universe of holy beings. 
The great enemies of God and man are then to be ar- 
rested in their career of war on him and his kingdom, 
and consigned to judgment. Death, suffering, sorrow, 
and sin, are to be brought to a pause on the earth, 
and mankind rescued from their thraldom ; Christ 



DURING THE MILLENNIUM. 209 

is to display the grandeur of his omnipotence, his 
wisdom, and his love in the redemption of men from 
the debasement and curse of sin, and transformation 
into righteousness and love. The earth is to become 
a vast paradise of holy and rejoicing beings, and be 
filled with the glory and praise of God. Who can 
look with indifference on such a spectacle ? "Who 
can withhold himself from the wish of the apostle to 
whom the scene was revealed in vision, '' Come Lord 
Jesus, come quickly V^ 



210 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING 



CHAPTER XVII. 

CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 

The Scriptures indicate that great and momentous 
changes are to take place in God^s administration 
over the world, at the commencement of Christ's mil- 
lennial reign, when all people, nations, and languages 
are to become obedient to his sceptre. They every- 
where represent, in a specific and emphatic manner, 
that the day.s that are immediately to precede that 
epoch, are to be the last days of the present dispen- 
sation, during which Satan, the prince of the power 
of the air, exerts a predominating sway over men ; 
the great systems of idol-worship and false Christi- 
anity prevail ; the evil continue mixed with the good, 
like tares with wheat ; and the malign principles and 
passions of the wicked are left to work out their cha- 
racter and fruits, and show that men are in reality in 
that alienation from God, and need of a gratuitous 
salvation, which Christ's intervention represents, and 
makes the ground of his redemptive w^ork. They ex- 
pressly represent, also, that the former things — sor- 
row, pain, crying, and death — are then to pass away, 



TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 211 

and all things are to be made new ; and specify 
among the former things that are thus to pass — the 
reign of the apostate and persecuting powers of 
Christendom, the systems of idolatry and other false 
worships, the tempting agency and presence of Satan, 
ignorance, and delusion ; and they indicate also a 
number of the new things that are then to take place 
— such as the personal coming and reign of Christ in 
glory, the resurrection of the holy dead and reign 
with him, the restoration of Israel, the communication 
to all nations and individuals of the knowledge of 
Christ, their universal conversion, and the discon- 
tinuance of wars, violence, and evils "of every form — 
which show that the administration that is then to be 
instituted, will differ very widely from the present, 
and may be justly denominated a new dispensation. 

What, however, is meant by its being a new dis- 
pensation ? Not, as disbelievers in Christ's reign 
sometimes represent, that a new method of redemp- 
tion is then to be instituted, or a new method of de- 
livering men from sin. No statement could be more 
mistaken. The object of the new administration is 
not to supersede the work of Christ by some other 
method of atonement or justification, but to apply 
his redemption on a vastly greater scale ; to extend 
its blessings to the whole population of the globe. 
Its aim is to give efficacy to the mean^ of exempting 
men from temptation ; enlightening, convincing, and 
renewing them ; transforming them to wisdom and 
rirfiteousness : and elevatini^: them in everv excel- 



212 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING 

lence, m a measure altogether transcending what the 
church has yet seen, and commensurate with the ne- 
cessities of all the nations and individuals of the 
race ; — not to set aside those means and influences, 
and reform and purify them by other instruments 
and agencies. Christ will then be the expiation, 
righteousness, and Redeemer of his people, and in a 
far higher sense to their thoughts and affections than 
he has hitherto been ; the Spirit will still be the sole 
renewer and sanctifier of the redeemed, and far more 
consciously to them, and with far more resplendent 
displays of his power, wisdom, and love, than now ; 
and the gospel will still be the glad news of salva- 
tion, and its truths the great instrument, in the in- 
fluences of the Spirit, of convincing, enlightening, 
and purifying the heart, and kindling it with the 
holy affections which are the fruits of his agency. 
But it will be a new dispensation, because, on the 
one hand, of the perfect exemption which the race 
are then to enjoy from the tempting arts of Satan, 
and of cruel and Avicked men ; and on the other, of 
the presence of Christ, new and higher means of in- 
struction and impression, and the immeasurably more 
copious and efficacious influences of the renewing 
and sanctifying Spirit, by which those means are to 
be applied to the illumination and transformation of 
men. In these relations, it will be far more emjDhati- 
cally a new dispensation than either the Mosaic or 
Christian was in regard to that which preceded it. 
Its peculiarities will be much more numerous and im- 



TO INTRODUCE A NEV*^ DISPENSATION. 213 

port ant ; its influences will be far more extensive. 
The Mosaic dispensation was confined in its design 
and effect almost exclusively to the Hebrews. The 
Christian has, in fact, been confined almost absolute- 
ly to the nations living within the limits of the 
ancient Roman empire, and those that have inter- 
mixed with or sprung from them. On the vast 
population of Central and Southern Africa, of East- 
ern and Northern Asia, of the islands of the Indian 
and Pacific oceans, and the numerous aboriginal tribes 
of this continent, scarce a ray of its light has ever 
fallen. The new dispensation is to pour its effulgence 
on every part of the globe ; is to exert its life-giving 
power in every human breast. 

That the most important changes are to be intro- 
duced in the administration of the world, at the time 
when it is thus to become the scene of Christ^s king- 
dom, in contradistinction from the kingdom of Satan 
and of apostate and hostile men, is taught in a great 
number of passages. Thus it is shown in the follow- 
ing vision of Daniel, that at the time that the nations 
of the earth are to become the subjects of Christ^s 
sceptre, he is to come in the clouds of heaven, and be 
invested with the dominion of the world ; the powers 
denoted by the beast of ten horns are to be arraigned 
and destroyed ; and the saints of the Most High, 
whom the little horn had prevailed against and worn 
out by persecution and martyrdom, are to take the 
kingdom^ and reign with him for ever and ever. 

" And I continued lookin^r until the thrones were 



214 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING 

placed, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment 
was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the 
pure wool ; his throne was the fiery flame,. his wheels 
burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth 
from before him, thousand thousands ministered to 
him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before 
him ; the judgment was set, and the books were 
opened. I continued looking then because of the 
great words which the horn sjDake, I continued look- 
ing until the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, 
and it was committed to the burning flames. 

'* I continued to look in the visions of the night, and 
behold one like the Son of Man came with the clouds 
of heaven, and he advanced to the Ancient of days, 
and they brought him near before him. And there 
was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom, 
that all people, and nations, and tongues, should serve 
him ; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which 
shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall 
not be destroyed. 

" And I came near to one of those that stood by, 
and asked him the truth (the true import) of all this ; 
so he told me, and made me know the interpretation 
of the things. These great beasts, which are four, 
are four kings (dynasties) which arise in the earth. 
But the saints of the Most High shall take the king- 
dom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever 
and ever. 

" Then would I know the truth (the meaning) of 
the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the 



TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 215 

others, exceedingly dreadful ; and of the ten horns 
that were in his head, and of the other which came 
up and before which three fell ; even of that horn 
that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great 
things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. 
I continued looking, and the same horn made war 
with the saints and prevailed against them, until the 
Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the 
saints of the Most High, and the time came that the 
saints joossessed the kingdom. Thus he said : The 
fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon the 
earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and 
shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, 
and break it in pieces. And as to the ten horns out 
of this kingdom, ten kings shall arise, and another 
shall rise after them ; and he shall be diverse from 
those that preceded, and three kings shall he subdue, 
and he shall speak words against the Most High, and 
shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and 
think to change times and laws, and they shall be 
given into his hand for a time, and times, and the 
dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and 
they shall take away his dominion to consume and 
destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom, and do- 
minion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the 
whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the 
saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an ever- 
lasting kingdom, and all dominions shall servo and 
obey him."— Chap. vii. 9-27. 
Here the great events that are symbolized, are re- 



216 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING 

presented as contemporaneous with or of the same 
great epoch as the conversion of the nations. The 
period when all people, nations, and tongues are to 
pass under Christ's rule and serve him, is the epoch 
of the session of the Ancient of days in the air, and 
the judgment and destruction of the civil and eccle- 
siastical powers symbolized by the wild beast. It is 
to be of the same period also as the coming of the 
Son of Man in the clouds of heaven, and investiture 
with the dominion of the world, that all its people and 
nations should serve him. It is likewise to be of the 
same epoch as the reception of the kingdom by the_. 
saints of the Most High, who are thenceforward to 
possess it for ever and ever. The institution of the 
rule on which Christ is to enter at his investiture 
with the dominion of the earth, here foreshown, is not 
to commence anterior to the destruction of the hostile 
powers denoted by the wild beast ; for the eleventh 
horn, which made war with the saints, is to prevail 
against them until the Ancient of days comes, and 
judgment, that is, judicial authority, is given to the 
saints of the Most High, and the time arrives that 
they are to possess the kingdom. The reign of 
Christ and the reign of the beast are not to be con- 
temporaneous ; but the reign of Christ is to follow 
that of the beast, and to commence when his career 
ends. In like manner, the conversion of the nations 
to Christ's rule is not to precede his coming in the 
clouds of heaven and investiture with the dominion 
of the world. Why should he be invested with the 



TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 217 

sceptre of the earth ages after it has been his king- 
dom and yielded to his sway? But he is to receive 
the earth as his kingdom and be invested with au- 
thority over it as the Son of Man, in order that all 
people, nations, and tongues may serve him. Their 
obedience is to be the consequence and work of his 
sway ; not his dominion and sway the consequence 
of their conversion and obedience. 

Here is then a clear and indubitable revelation that, 
at the time that all nations are to become subject to 
Christ, he is to institute a kingdom on the earth that 
is to be unlike any that previously existed, and enter 
on an administration that, in form and efficiency, will 
differ very essentially from any that preceded it. It 
will be ushered in by the destruction of the powers 
denoted by the wild beast, and by his coming in the 
clouds of heaven, receiving the earth as his kingdom, 
and causing all its people and nations to submit to his 
sceptre ; and it will be marked by his personal reign 
over them, by the reign with him of the saints of the 
Most High who had been persecuted and slain during 
the powef of the beast ; by the conversion and obe- 
dience to him of all nations and tongues ; and by a 
continuance for ever ; and these and other great mea- 
sures revealed in other prophecies, which are to be 
adopted at the same period, are emphatically to con- 
stitute his administration a new and peculiar one. 

It is to be new and peculiar, because Christ is to 
reign over the nations in person. As the earth is 
then to be his kingdom, he is to be its King, in place 

10 



218 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING 

of the usurping, slaughtering, and oppressing rulers 
symbolized by the four wild beasts ; and he is to reign 
liere and visibly, not as he now does in a distant part 
of the universe beyond the sphere of our sight. Why 
should he be constituted the king of the earth, and be 
exhibited as entering on a new and eternal reign over 
it, if he is then to be no more its king than he was 
before, and reign over it in no different form ? If he 
is not then in fact on the earth any more than he now 
is, and does not reign over it in person and visibly 
any more than he now does, how will he any more be 
its king, to the exclusion of all others, than he is now ? 
If earthly monarchs are then to reign over the nations, 
and as absolutely as they do now, though more wisely, 
why will they not be the kings of the earth, in contra- 
distinction from Christ, enthroned in a different and 
distant world, as much as the j)resent monarchs of 
the earth are ? 

It will be a new and peculiar administration, be- 
cause there will then be no conspiring and bloody 
monarchs, not only in the ten kingdoms ruled by the 
beast, but, as we learn from other prophecies, in no 
part of the world, Isaiah ii. 4-18, who will employ 
themselves in making war on their fellow men, slaugh- 
tering them, crushing them with oppression, and en- 
ticing or forcing them to apostatize from God, and 
pay their homage to idols and false deities. The uni- 
versal abolition of other worships is indeed implied 
in the subjection of all nations to Christ. The false 
religions that have prevailed in the world for four 



TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 219 

thousand years, have been mainly instituted, sustained, 
and propagated by the arbitrary and cruel rulers of 
the nations. Their priests have been the instruments 
of those monarchs, and their bloody and profligate 
rites the means of augmenting their power, and keep- 
ing the people in submission to their will. The idol- 
atries of Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome, were 
all instituted and fostered by the governments, and 
owed to them their authority and perpetuation from 
age to age. What a stupendous change in the con- 
dition of the race will the extinction of all those false 
religions form ; and their extinction by the personal 
presence of the Son of Man in the glories of his deity, 
as the Creator and the Redeemer of men, and the 
only proper object of their homage ! How infinite 
the influences that are to spring from it ! 

It will be a new and peculiar administration, be- 
cause the saints of the Most High are to take the 
kingdom along Avith Christ, and reign with him for 
ever and ever. The saints who are thus to receive 
judicial authority and to possess the kingdom, are 
i)ot saints in the natural life, but those who are at 
Christ^s coming to be raised from the dead and ex- 
alted to thrones, and reign with him, as is foreshown 
in the vision of the first resurrection. Rev. xx. 4-0. 
This is seen from the consideration, that they are the 
identical saints on whom the eleventh horn of the 
beast made war, prevailed over, and wore out by per- 
secution and slaughter during the long period of its 
reign symbolized by a time, times, and the JiviJiiiu' 



220 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMINrx 

of a time, or twelve hundred and sixty years. That 
they are not the saints in the natural body, is seen 
also from the consideration that all the nations, that 
is, all in the natural life, are to be their subjects. If 
they are saints in the natural life, as all in this life 
are to be saints, there would be no subjects over 
whom they could reign. They are to be the risen 
and glorified saints, therefore, as is foreshown, Rev. 
XX. 4-6, who are then to be invested with kingly au- 
thority, and given to reign with Christ. And that 
will be a measure that has no parallel in the present 
administration of the world, and will be fraught un- 
doubtedly with immense and propitious influences. 

It will be a new and peculiar administration, be- 
cause all people, nations, and tongues will be obedi- 
ent to Christ. There not only w^ill not be any tyran- 
nical and bloody monarchs, any apostate and perse- 
cuting church, nor any false religions ; but there will 
not be any irreligious and demoralized communities, 
any deceitful and deluding teachers, nor any wicked 
families nor individuals. All peojole, nations, and 
tongues are to serve the Son of Man, and all domin- 
ions under the whole heaven be obedient to his scep- 
tre. What a stupendous change ! Every false belief 
swept from existence ! Every selfish and ferocious 
passion hushed in eternal silence ! Every breast 
swayed by rectitude, wisdom, and love, and seeking 
to promote the intelligence, purity, virtue, and hap- 
piness of all others, and finding a lofty and perfect 
bliss in Christ and his kingdom ! 



TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 221 

These are the plain and indubitable teachings of 
the vision. The construction we have put on it, in- 
deed, is in a great measure given by the Spirit of in- 
spiration himself ; it is in accordance with the lav/s 
of the symbols, and of the language in which it is ex- 
plained and unfolded ; and its teachings interpreted 
in this manner are confirmed by many other passages 
in the Scriptures which predict the same great events, 
at the same epoch. Thus it is foretold by Christ that 
men are to continue in blindness, unbelief, and devo- 
tion to worldly pleasures and sin, down to the time of 
his coming in the clouds of heaven. " And as were 
the days of Noe, so also shall the coming of the Son 
of Man be ; for as in the days that were before the 
flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and 
giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered 
into the ark, and knew not till the flood came and 
took them all aw^ay ; so shall also the coming of the 
Son of Man be." (Matt. xxiv. 37-40.) '' Likewise also 
as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, 
they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded : 
but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it 
rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed 
them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the 
Son of Man is revealed." Luke xvii. 28-30. So also 
it is shown in the parable of the wdieat and tares, 
that the children of the wicked one are to continue 
intermixed with the children of the kingdom till the 
end of the age, when he is to come and establish his 
throne on the earth. Both are to grow together 



222 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING 

until the harvest, which is the end of the age : when 
the Son of Man is to ''send forth his angels and 
gather all those w^ho tempt to sin, and all that do 
iniquity, and cast them into the furnace of fire/^ 
Matt. xiii. 39-42. It is foretold, moreover, that in 
the latter times of the present dispensation, there 
shall be an apostasy from the faith to seducing spirits 
and the doctrines of demons : and in the last days still 
more perilous times shall come, when men, under the 
pretence of piety, but denying its power, shall go to 
the monstrous length of maintaining that ungodliness 
itself is virtue ; the vilest and most atrocious passions 
and principles, and the most base and impious prac- 
tices, are religion in its purest and highest form, the 
religion of reason and of Christianity ; and will ad- 
dict themselves to the most lawless indulgence of 
their brutal appetites and fiendish pride and ma- 
lignity. 1 Tim. iv. 1-3 ; 2 Tim. iii. 1-7. At that 
time, also, scoffers are to arise who will deride the 
prediction that Christ is to come and destroy his 
enemies, and mock at the faith of God's people in it. 
It is foreshown, also, that Christ is to descend from 
heaven in infinite glory and pomp with all his armies, 
at the last great battle of the wild beast and false 
prophet and their hosts against him, and is to destroy 
them ; and immediately after, enter on his millennial 
reign, and bring all nations to submission to his 
gracious will. Rev. xix. 11-21; xx. 1-6; 2 Thess. 
i. 6-10. And, finally, it is foretold that the holy dead 
are then to be raised, and reign with him, Rev. xx. 



TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 223 

1-6 ; 1 Cor. xv. 23-57 ; 1 Thess. iv. 14-17, and that 
he is to dwell with men and manifest his presence 
and glory to them. Rev. xxi. 1-9 ; xxii. 1-5. We 
might cite a great nnmber of other passages in which 
it is foreshown that these events are to take place at 
the same epoch. It is the representation everywhere 
given of them ; it is the voice of the whole prophetic 
Scriptures respecting them. 

Not only are these the plain teachings of the vi- 
sion, but no other construction can be put on it, 
without involving the prophecy in the grossest con- 
tradictions. Thus, it cannot be maintained that the 
reign of the saints is to precede the comiing and reign 
of the Son of Man, without such a contradiction ; as 
it is expressly declared that the blaspheming and 
persecuting horn ^^ made loar with the saints and pre- 
vailed against them until the Ancient of days came, 
and judicial authority was given to the saints of the 
Most High, and the time came that the saints pos- 
sessed the kingdom, '^ v. 21, 22. And it is at that 
session of the Ancient of days, and gift of judicial 
power to the saints, that the Son of Man is to come 
in the clouds of heaven, and receive the dominion of 
the earth, that all people and nations may servo him ; 
and that reception of the earth as his kingdom, and 
the glory of dominion over it as his empire, is to be 
his absolute and final reception of it as such ; not a 
merely preliminary and lower investiture Avith au- 
thority over it; for it is added, that the dominion 
with which he is then to be invested is an everlasting' 



224 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING 

dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom 
that which shall not be destroyed ; '* an everlasting 
kingdom, '' in the sway of which " all dominions shall 
serve him.^^ No language or revelation could more 
clearly declare, on the one hand, that the reign of the 
saints is not to commence till the Ancient of days ap- 
pears, and judges the powers denoted by the beast, 
and the Son of Man comes in the clouds of heaven, 
and receives the earth as his kingdom ; and on the 
other, that the relation in which Christ is to reign 
over the earth, is never thereafter to change, he is 
never to become its king in a different form, nor ex- 
ercise over it a different dominion. How could the 
notion be more expressly excluded, that the reign of 
the saints is to precede the judgment by the Ancient 
of days, and the coming of the Son of Man ; and that 
his personal reign is not to commence until after their 
reign is over? It cannot be maintained that the reign 
of the saints is contemporaneous with the domination 
of the beast, without a like contradiction ; for it is ex- 
pressly represented that the time w^hen the saints are 
to possess the kingdom, is the time of the session of 
the Ancient of days, when the beast is to be arraign- 
ed and destroyed ; and until that time the persecu- 
ting power is to make war on them, and prevail 
against them ; and that that malignant power is to 
have supreme sway over the times and laws, until the 
judgment shall sit which is to take away its dominion 
and destroy it. 

It cannot be maintained that Christ^s reio:n is to be 



TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 225 

contemporaneons with that of the beast ; for on the 
one hand, the beast is to be supreme, hold the times 
and law^s in its power, and make war on the saints 
and prevail against them, down to the time when it 
is to be arraigned at the tribunal of the Ancient of 
days and destroyed ; and on the other, it is not till 
that session of the Ancient of days and destruction 
of the beast, that the Son of Man is to receive the do- 
minion of the earth, and bring the nations into obedi- 
ence to his sceptre. The reign of the saints, more- 
over, is to commence with the reign of Christ, and 
contemporize w^ith his. But their reign is not to 
commence till the judgment and destruction of the 
wild beast. His reign accordingly is not to commence 
until that epoch. 

It cannot be maintained that the reign of Christ 
over the world, after his coming in the clouds of hea- 
ven and assumption of its dominion, is not to differ 
from that which he now exercises ; for that would 
imply either that he is not in reality to receive any 
authority, glory, or kingdom, at his coming in the 
clouds, or else that he is not to exercise any of the 
power and dominion which he is then to receive ; 
each of which is contradictious to the prediction, and 
treats it as altogether unmeaning and deceptive. To 
assert that he is not then to be invested with the do- 
minion of the earth, and be constituted its king in a 
sense that he had not before been, is to contradict 
the prediction, for it is expressly said tliat there was 

given him, as he stood before the Ancient of days, 

10^ 



226 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING 

clominiGn and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, 
nations, and tongues, should serve him ; and that the 
dominion with which he was then invested, is an ever- 
lasting dominion, and his kingdom one that shall not 
be destroyed, but shall be obeyed by all dominions. 
Will any one in the presence of this august transac- 
tion, and this revealed explanation of its import, ven- 
ture to maintain that they are an unmeaning pageant ; 
a gorgeous mockery ; that they present no indication 
that the Son of Man is at his coming to be invested 
with a dominion of the earth he never before pos- 
sessed ; and is to become its king, in a relation and a 
glory he will not before have been ? Can a more fla- 
grant contradiction to the prophecy be devised, or a 
more direct impeachment of the truth of the great 
Revealer ? "Were it a more presumptuous and sweep- 
ing assault on the prophecy, to deny that the session 
of the Ancient of days, the judgment and destruction 
of the beast, the coming of the Son of Man in the 
clouds, the reign of the saints, or the submission of 
the nations to Christ's sway, denote the events which 
they represent, or imply that any new measures of 
any kind are to enter into the divine administration, 
or new and extraordinary occurrences to take place 
under it? That Christ is to be invested with a new 
and peculiar dominion over the earth at his coming 
must then be admitted ; and thence it must be ad- 
mitted that the new dominion with which he is to be 
invested, and the new reign on which he is to enter, 
is that of its absolute and personal king, who is to es- 



TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 227 

tablisli his throne here, and appear visibly to men ; 
inasmuch as to suppose it otherwise, is either to sup- 
pose that he had no dominion whatever over men be- 
fore ; or else that he had identically the same in kind 
as he is then to receive ; each of which is to contra- 
dict the prophecy, and the teachings of every other 
part of the Bible respecting his millennial and ever- 
lasting reign. For if he is not, in virtue of the do- 
minion he is at that epoch to receive, to reign in per- 
son over the earth, then the power he is to receive is 
simply a power to reign over men invisibly on his 
throne in heaven, as he now does, and as he perhaps 
reigns over other distant realms of his empire. But if 
his reign is to be simply an invisible one, by laws, 
providences, and the influences of his Spirit, then the 
gift of that power to him at his coming in the clouds 
implies that he had no such power before. For if he 
has it now, why is it to be given to him then ? But 
to suppose that he has not that power now, is to con- 
tradict the clearest teachings of the sacred word. He 
himself declared after his resurrection that all power 
in heaven and earth was given to him ; and the apos- 
tle avers, that on his ascension the Father ^^ set him 
at his own right hand, far above all principality and 
power, and might and dominion, and every name that 
is named, not only in this w^orld, but also in that which 
is to come, and hath put all under his feet.'^ On the 
other hand, to admit that he has that power now, and 
jet to maintain that he is not to be invested Avith any 
higher authority or kingsliip at his coming, is io 



228 CHRIST IS TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPEXSATIOX. 

maintain that no new authority whatever is then to 
be given him, and represent the vision as an unmean- 
ing and deceptive pageant. 

To assign any other time to the coming of Christ, 
and commencement of his kingly reign and the reign 
of the saints on the earth, than that of the judgment 
and destruction of the powers denoted by the wild 
beast ; or exhibit his reign, instead of a reign in per- 
son, as a mere reign by laws, influences, and provi- 
dences, is to set aside the plain teachings of the pro- 
phecy, and involve it in the grossest self-contradic- 
tion. This great vision thus makes it certain that the 
conversion of the nations is to follow the coming of 
Christ in the clouds and establishment of his throne 
on the earth — not to precede it ; and that his coming 
and the commencement of his reign here, and the 
reign of the saints with him, are to take place at the 
judgment and destruction of the powers symbolized 
by the wild beast. 



THE DATE OF THE NEW DISPENSATION. 229 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

HE IS TO INSTITUTE THIS NEW DISPENSATION AND ENTER ON HIS 
REIGN HERE AT THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FOURTH EMPIRE UNDER 
THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 

The contemporaneousness of Christ^s coming, and 
the commencement of his reign here and the reign 
of the saints, with the judgment of the powers sym- 
bolized by the wild beast, is revealed also in the 
vision of the Apocalypse under the seventh trumpet. 

" And the seventh angel sounded, and there were 
great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of this 
world has become our Lord^s and his Christ's, and 
he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four-and- 
twenty elders, who sat before God on their thrones, 
fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying, We 
thank thee, Lord God, the Almighty, who is, and 
who was, that thou hast taken thy great power and 
reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath 
is come, and the time of the dead to be judged, and 
to give the reward to thy servants the prophets, and 
to the saints, and to those who fear thy name, small 



230 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS HEIGN 

nnd great, and to destroy those who destroy the 
earth."— Rev. xi. 15-18. 

Here the investiture of Christ vrith the kingdom 
or sovereignty of the world, and the commencement 
of his everlasting reign over it as the Messiah, is re- 
presented as taking place under the seventh trumpet, 
when the last plagues on the wild beast, false prophet, 
and their vassals are to be inflicted, and those hostile 
powers are to be destroyed. The sovereignty of the 
world with which he is then to be invested, is un- 
doubtedly one that he had not before possessed ; and 
the relation in which he is to be its king, and reign 
over it, is one in which he had not before been its 
monarch. To maintain that he is not, then, to re- 
ceive any dominion he did not before possess and 
exercise, and that he is not then to become the mon- 
arch and ruler of the earth in any other sense than 
that in which he now is, is to contradict the vision, 
and make the proclamation by the great voices from 
heaven empty sounds, uttering no prophecy, and con- 
veying no information. No one who receives the 
vision as divine will be so rash as to exhibit that as 
its character. But if those voices are prophetic, and 
reveal the gift of the world to Christ as his kingdom, 
and the commencement of his reigning over it, then 
it must be a revelation that he is at that epoch to re- 
ceive the earth as his kingdom, in which he is to 
reign in person and visibly ; for otherwise he will 
be no more, nor in any other sense, the monarch of 
the earth than he now is. Does he not now, seated 



UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 231 

at the right hand of the majesty on high, and possess- 
ing all power in heaven and earth, reign over our 
world by laws, influences, and providences ? And if 
he is only to reign in that manner after the seventh 
trumpet, will he possess any more dominion, or reign 
over it in any other way than he now does ? The 
prophecy that he is then to receive the world as his 
kingdom, and commence an everlasting reign over it, 
is thus demonstratively a prophecy that he is then to 
come to the earth, receive it as his peculiar kingdom, 
and reign over it in person. 

But the reception of the world as his kingdom is 
to take place at the time of the destruction of the 
wild beast ; for it is to be at the time of the seventh 
trumpet, and the time of the Almighty's wrath, when 
he is to destroy those who destroy the earth ; and 
those destroyers are the wild beast, the false prophet, 
and Babylon, the symbols of the apostate and perse- 
cuting civil and ecclesiastical rulers of the ten king- 
doms of the Apocalypse, on whose subjects and 
throne the first six vials are poured, and whose de- 
struction is to take place under the seventh. 

The time of this reception of the world as his king- 
dom, and destruction of the wild beast and false pro- 
phet, is also to be the time of the holy dead, that 
Christ should judge and give reward to his servants 
the prophets, and to the saints, and to them among 
the living also that fear his name, both small and 
great ; and that is the time of the resurrection of the 
holy dead, therefore ; for it is at their resurrection 



232 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN 

that they are to be judged, and be constituted kings 
and priests, receive their crowns, and enter on their 
reign with Christ. Rev. xx. ^6 ; 1 Corin. xv. 51- 
57 ; Dan. xii. 1-3 ; Matt. xiii. 37-43. The time, there- 
fore, of Christ's reception of the world as his king- 
dom, and destruction of the destroyers of the earth, 
is to be the time of his coming in the clouds of hea- 
ven in great glory and power ; and his reign over 
the earth is accordingly to be a reign over it in per- 
son. For he is to come in person at the resurrection 
of the holy dead, and the judgment, acceptance, and 
reward of the living saints. He is to come also in 
person in the clouds of heaven at the destruction of 
his living enemies. Thus, " The Lord himself shall de- 
scend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the 
archangel, and with the trump of God ; and the dead 
in Christ shall rise first. Afterwards we the living 
who survive, shall be caught up together to meet the 
Lord in the air ; and so shall we be ever with the 
Lord," 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17. " We shall not all sleep, 
but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the 
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump ; for the 
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised in- 
corruptible, and we shall be changed,'' 1 Cor. xv. 51, 
52. " When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, 
and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit 
upon the throne of his glory ; and before him shall 
all nations" — that is, the living — ''be gathered, and 
he shall separate them one from another, as a shep- 
herd divideth his sheep from the goats ; and he shall 



UNDEE THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 233 

set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the 
left ; and these shall go away into everlasting pun- 
ishment, but the righteous into life eternal," Matt. 
XXV. 31-46. " The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from 
heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking 
vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey 
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be 
punished with everlasting destruction from the pre- 
sence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, 
when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and 
admired in all them that believe," 2 Thess. i. 7-10. 
All these passages thus teach, in the most express 
manner, that Christ is to come in person and visibly 
at the resurrection of the holy dead, the acceptance 
of the living saints, and the judgment and destruction 
of his enemies. As, then, at the seventh trumpet, 
when he is to receive the world as his kingdom, he 
is to judge and reward the holy dead, and the holy 
living small and great, and destroy his enemies — acts 
in which he is to be personally present, — it is clear 
that he is then to come in the clouds of heaven in 
person and visibly, and thence that the everlasting 
reign on which he is then to enter over the world is 
to be a reign in person and visibly. But that is to 
be the period of the conversion of the nations of the 
world. For immediately after the infliction of the 
last plagues, it was chanted before the throne by 
those Vvdio had gotten the victory over the beast and 
over his image, that ''All nations shall come and wor- 
ship before him, because his. righteous judgments," 



234 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN 

in destrojdng his enemies, " have been made mani- 
fest/' Rev. XV. 4. 

It is thus clear from this prophecy, as well as from 
that of Daniel, that the epoch of the conversion of the 
nations is to be the epoch of Christ's coming in the 
clouds of heaven, receiving the dominion of the earth 
as his kingdom, raising his dead saints in glory, de- 
stroying his organized enemies, and entering on an 
everlasting reign here in person and visible glory. 

There are several other passages which show with 
equal clearness that the Son of Man is to come in 
person, in power, and in glory, at the destruction of 
the enemies and perverters of his kingdom ; and that 
that coming and extermination of his foes is to be 
preparatory to his reign over the world as its king, 
and the obedience of the nations to his swa)^. Thus, 
vvdien at the redemption of Zion, " the hand of the 
Lord is to be made known towards his servants, and 
his indignation towards his enemies,'' he is to ^'come 
with fire, and his chariots like a whirlwind, to render 
his anger with fury, and his rebukes with flames of 
fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord 
plead Avith all flesh ; and the slain of the Lord shall 
be many," Isa. Ixvi. 15, 16. That this coming is to 
be in person and visibly, is seen from its being with 
fire, and with chariots, and that flames of fire are to 
be the instruments of his vengeance on his enemies. 
It is shown also by the comparison of his coming with 
Qre and chariots, to the rush, the resistlessness, and 
the dazzling flashes perhaps of a whirlwind ; as it is 



UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 235 

the law of that figure, that the things compared are 
identically what their names literally denote — their 
names always being used in their proper sense, not 
by a metaphor. As he therefore is to come with real 
fire and real chariots, he is to come iu person and 
visibly. For it is Ms coming with fire and chariots, 
not the mere coming of fire and chariots, that is com- 
pared to such a whirlwind. But this coming is to be 
at the epoch of the conversion of the nations ; for it 
is added, '^ It shall come that I will gather all nations 
and tongues, and they shall come and see my glory ; 
and I Vv^ill set a sign among them, and I will send 
those that escape of them unto the nations, to the 
isles afar off that have not heard my fame, neither 
have seen my glory, and they shall declare my glory 
among the Gentiles. '^ And that is to be followed by 
the restoration of the Israelites who still remain in 
dispersion, and the conversion and obedience of the 
whole race. '^ And they shall bring all your brethren 
for an offering unto the Lord, out of all nations ; and 
I will take of them for priests and for Levites, saith 
the Lord. For as the new heavens and the new earth 
which I will make shall remain before me, saith the 
Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And 
it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to an- 
other, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesli 
come to worship before me, saith the Lord,^' v. IS--0. 
^ These Gentile nations cannot before liave been con- 
verted to God; for how then could it be said that 
the nations of Asia, Africa, and Europe, nearest Pal- 



236 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN 

estine, where the predicted slaughter is to take place, 
V. 24, and of the isles afar off, will not until then have 
heard his fame nor seen his glory ? It is after that 
visible coming, conquest of his armed foes, redemp- 
tion of Israel, creation of the new atmosphere and 
new earth, and establishment of his throne at Jeru- 
salem, not before, that all nations are to come and 
worship before him. 

There is a like prediction, also, in Zechariah : '' Be- 
hold the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall 
be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather 
all nations against Jerusalem to battle ; and the city 
shall be taken, and half the city shall go forth into 
captivity. Then shall the Lord go forth and fight 
against those nations, as when he fought in the day 
of battle ; and his feet shall stand in that day on the 
Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the 
east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst 
thereof towards the east and towards the west, a very 
great valley : and the Lord my God shall come, and 
all the saints with thee. And the Lord shall be king 
over all the earth : in that day shall there be one Je- 
hovah, and his name one. And it shall come to pass, 
that every one that is left of all the nations which 
came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year 
to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and 
to keep the feast of tabernacles, '^xiv. 1-9, 16. That 
the Lord-Christ^s coming is then to be in person and 
visibly, is shown by the fact that his feet are to stand 
on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem. 



UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 237 

It is shown, also, by his bringing all the saints, that 
is, the holy dead, who will then have been raised to 
life, with him. That he is then to receive the domi- 
nion of the earth and commence his reign over it, as is 
also shown in Daniel and the Apocalypse, is seen from 
the prediction, that " in that day Jehovah shall be 
king over all the earth ; and there shall be one Jeho- 
vah, and his name one,^^ — an announcement that would 
be wholly nugatory and meaningless, if he is not then 
to be the king of the earth — the Jehovah alone, bear- 
ing one name, — in a manner he had never before been. 
And that the conversion of the nations is not to take 
place previously to that visible coming and destruc- 
tion of the enemies of his kingdom, but is to be con- 
sequent on his presence and his judgments, is seen 
from the prediction that the nations are, at the time 
of his appearing, to be gathered in array against Je- 
rusalem, in order to prevent the establishment of his 
chosen people there, and that he is to fight with them. 
It is not until he has enthroned himself there, that 
all nations are to come there to worship in his pre- 
sence. 

In like manner it is foreshown in the Apocalypse, 
that Christ is to come in person at the destruction of 
the wild beast and false prophet, and is then to enter 
on his reign over the nations as the King of kings 
and Lord of lords. 

'^ And I saAv heaven opened, and behold a white 
horse ; and he that sat upon him was called faitliful 
and true, and in righteousness doth he judge and 



238 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN 

make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on 
his head were many crowns ; and he had a name writ- 
ten that no man knew but he himself. And he was 
clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name 
is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven 
followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, 
white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp 
sword, that with it he should smite the nations ; and 
he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth 
the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of the 
Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture, and on 
his thigh, a name written. King of kings and Lord of 
lords. And I saw the beast and the kings of the 
earth and their armies gathered together to make war 
against him on the white horse, and against his army. 
And the beast was taken, and with him the false pro- 
phet that wrought miracles before him, with which 
he deceived them that had received the mark of the 
beast, and them that worshipped his image. These 
both were cast alive into a lake of fire and brimstone. 
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him 
that sat upon the horse which proceeded out of his 
mouth.''— Rev. xix. 11-21. 

The personage on the white horse is declared to 
be the Word of God, and his appearing in the vision 
denotes that he is to appear in person in the scene 
which it foreshows ; it being a law of symbolization, ■ 
that if the appearance of the deity in person is to be 
foreshown, he appears in person in the vision which 
foreshows it ; and of necessity, inasmuch as no other 



UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 239 

being can properly represent his personal appearance. 
■ Thus the Ancient of days, in Daniel, appeared in the 
vision foreshowing his session in the judgment of the 
civil rulers of the fourth kingdom, which the vision 
symbolizes ; and the one like a Son of Man, coming 
in the clouds of heaven, appeared in the vision, which 
was employed to foreshow his real coming in the 
clouds at the judgment of the powers denoted by the 
beast, and reception of the dominion of the earth ; in 
the same manner as his appearance in the vision of 
the last judgment. Rev. xx. 11-15, foreshows his real 
personal presence in the great scene of the resurrec- 
tion and judgment which that vision symbolizes. It 
teaches us, therefore, in the most indubitable and 
impressive manner, that he is to come in person a.t 
the destruction of the civil and ecclesiastical rulers 
denoted by the wild beast and false prophet. 

The coming with him of the armies of heaven 
clothed in white robes shows, also, that it is to be at 
the epoch of the resurrection of the holy dead ; for 
white robes are symbols of the righteousness of the 
saints, and indicate that those who wear them are the 
redeemed saints, and therefore have been raised from 
the dead ; as otherwise, their being borne on horses 
would be unnatural. It is proper to corporeal beings 
only, not to mere spirits, to be borne on steeds, and 
to make war with corporeal beings. It is foreshown, 
also, in the vision preceding this, that the marriage 
of the Lamb had come, and his wife had made herself 
ready, being clothed in fine linen, which is the righte- 



240 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN 

ousness of the saints. That marriage is the symbol 
of the exaltation of the saints to that relation to 
Christ, as fellow heirs in his kingdom, in which they 
are for ever to reign with him ; and implies, there-, 
fore, that they are then to be raised from the dead in 
their glorious and immortal forms. It is to be the 
epoch, also, of Christ^s becoming the King of the 
kings of the earth, and the Lord of its lords ; for it 
was proclaimed immediately before the marriage of 
the Lamb, '' The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.'^ 
He accordingly appeared, on his descent from heaven, 
with the title on his vesture, ^' King of kings, and 
Lord of lords ;'' and it was predicted that he should 
" smite the nations with his sword, and rule them 
with an iron rod.^' He is then, therefore, to receive 
the dominion of the earth, as is foreshown in Daniel 
vii. 13, 14, and Rev. xi. 15, and to commence his 
eternal reign. It is after his personal coming, accord- 
ingly, that the nations are to be converted ; as at his 
coming they are to be arrayed in war against him, 
and vast multitudes of them are to be trodden hj him 
in the wine-press of his wrath. 

The same great events are thus woven together in 
this vision, and exhibited as of the same period, as 
are grouped together in the prophecy of Daniel, of 
Isaiah, and of Zechariah, and the vision of the seventh 
trumpet of the Apocalypse, and foreshown as to take 
place at the same epoch. They can no more be sep- 
arated from each other and assigned to different ages, 
than the appearance of the Judge on the great white 



UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 241 

throne, Rev. xx. 11-15, and the resurrection and doom 
of the dead and their judgment, can be separated 
from each other, and referred to different epochs and 
ages ; or any more than the separation of the right- 
eous from the wicked in the judgment of the living 
nations. Matt. xxv. 31-46 ; the placing of the right- 
eous on the right hand and the wicked on the left ; 
and the welcome of the one to the kingdom prepared 
for them, and the doom of the other to fire, can be 
disjoined from each other and referred to widely dif- 
ferent epochs. 

This vision of the personal coming of the Word of 
God, with his risen saints, at the destruction of the 
powers denoted by the beast and false prophet, is 
followed by a vision of the resurrection of the dead 
saints, and their exaltation to thrones to reign with 
Christ during the thousand years. 

" And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and 
judgment was given unto them ; and I saw the souls 
f those who had been beheaded for the witness of 
Jesus, and for the word of God, and whoever had not 
worshipped the beast, nor its image, and had not 
received the mark upon their forehead and in their 
hand ; and they lived and reigned with Christ the 
thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not 
until the thousand years were finished. This is the 
first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has 
part in the first resurrection ; over them the second 
death has no power, but they shall be priests of God 

11 



242 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN 

and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand 
years. '^ — Rev. xx. 4-6. 

This vision is thus declared by the revealing Spirit 
himself to be the symbol of the first resurrection ; 
and those Avhose resurrection it represents are de- 
clared to be holy and blessed. And this, and the 
whole spectacle itself, shows that it is a symbol of a 
real corporeal resurrection of the holy dead. It can- 
not, as many have supposed, be a symbol of the first 
mo7^a? resurrection, or the renovation of men ; for that 
would imply that no renovation of men by the Spirit 
had ever taken place. How can this vision foreshow 
the first renovation of men, if thousands and millions 
of renovations had before been wrought by the Spi- 
rit ; if the mart)- rs and witnesses for Jesus, and others 
who appeared in the vision as raised from the grave, 
had themselves already been renewed, myriads and 
millions of them, ages before the vision is to have its 
accomplishment? That absurd notion contradicts 
the symbols themselves also, as well as the interpre- 
tation of them that is given by the Spirit. The re- 
presentative persons are the holy dead ; those who had 
not worshipped the beast nor its image, but had 
resisted their sway, and maintained allegiance to God. 
The representative events and acts are their resur- 
rection in glory, investiture with judicial — that is, 
kingly — authority, session on thrones, and reigning 
with Christ a thousand years, in holiness and blessed- 
ness. But such holy persons are not proper repre- 
sentatives of unrenewed men in the natural life. 



UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 243 

Their characters and relations to God are direct op- 
posites, in place of resembling each other. The 
resurrection of those saints in glory is no proper sym- 
bol of the renovation of men, in the natural body, who 
are at enmity with God. It were to make but one- 
half of the nature, the body, of his risen saints, the 
representative of but one-half of the nature, and the 
opposite one, the mind, of the renewed sinner, which 
is contradictious and absurd. Whatever the risen 
saint is the symbol of, it is in his whole being, body 
and soul, that he is the symbol of it. It can no more 
be claimed that only his body is a symbol, than it can 
that the body is the only part of the being which he, 
as a symbol, represents. It is impossible, therefore, 
that the risen saints, perfect both in mind and body, 
and freed from the curse of sin, can be the represen- 
tatives of the whole nature of men in the natural life, 
both in a state of mental non-renovation and renova- 
tion, and continuing after renovation under the do- 
minion in a large measure of sin, and, without mitiga- 
tion, under the sentence to corporeal death. No two 
beings, no two conditions, can be more devoid of the 
resemblance which must subsist between symbols 
and that which they symbolize. 

In a like manner, the gift to the risen saints of 
judicial or kingly authority, their elevation to thrones, 
and reigning with Christ a thousand years, has no 
counterpart in the natural life and condition of men 
here, who arc simply renewed. With what kingly 
•authority are those of the present ago who are re- 



244 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN 

newed invested ? Who are their subjects ? Who of 
them pretends to any judicial authority over the na- 
tions ? On what thrones are they seated ? In what 
sense do they reign with Christ ? The pretext that 
the mere renovation of men invests them with such 
august prerogatives, and exalts them to such stations 
and influences, is too bald and senseless a. contradic- 
tion to the consciousness and conditions of the whole 
people of God, to need any further refutation. It is 
the fanatical and impious only, like Munzer and his 
followers of the sixteenth century, who claim to be 
clothed with such power and fiU such offices. 

The events symbolized by the vision, then, are a 
real corporeal resurrection of the holy dead, investi- 
ture with judicial power, elevation to thrones, and 
reigning with Christ a thousand years ; and these 
events are represented by the saints themselves ap- 
pearing in the vision, being raised from the dead, 
receiving authority, and reigning with Christ.; — ^be- 
cause no other persons or agents could represent 
them in those states ; it being a law of symbols that 
when no representative of a different kind can be 
found to symbolize the person or persons to be fore- 
shown, either in their nature or in the conditions 
that are to be represented, then the being or beings 
to be represented, appear in their own persons in the 
vision, as their own representatives. Thus the An- 
cient of days, the Son of Man, the Lamb, the Word 
of God, appeared themselves in the visions in which 



UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 245 

there was a representation of their real appearance 
in the scenes that were foreshown. 

But this resurrection of the holy dead is to be at 
the epoch of Christ^s second coming ; as is shown by 
the passages we have already cited, which declare 
that he is to descend from heaven at the resurrection 
of his saints ; and by the vision of the preceding 
chapter, of his descent from heaven with the armies 
at the great battle with the beast and false prophet. 
His second coming, therefore, and this first resurrec- 
tion, are to take place before the millennium ; as it 
is expressly declared that the thousand years of the 
saints' reign with him are to follow their resurrec- 
tion, not precede it. And it is also to precede the 
conversion of the nations ; for it is not until after the 
resurrection of the saints, and investiture with crowns, 
that all nations become obedient to Christ's sway. It 
is after the descent of the New Jerusalem, the sym- 
bol of the risen saints in their relation to Christ as 
the bride, that is, in their stations as kings and priests, 
which they are ever thereafter to fill, that the nations 
are to be healed by the leaves of the tree of life, which 
is to grow on the banks of the river flowing from the 
throne of God and the Lamb in that city ; and not 
till then, that they are to walk in the light of that 
city, and the kings of the earth are to bring their 
glory and honor into it. Down to the time of Christ's 
coming, they are to continue in alienation ; and arc 
at that crisis to rise to a climax of rebellion, and unite 
in an attempt to confute the predictions of his word, 



246 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN 

by dispersing again the gathered tribes of Israel at 
Jerusalem, and thereby prevent the institution of his 
millennial kingdom there. Thus, again, in these pro- 
phecies, all these events are united as of the same 
great epoch — the coming of the Word of God in the 
clouds, the resurrection of the saints, his entering on 
his reign on the earth, the reign of the saints with 
him, and, consequent thereon, the conversion of the 
nations. 

But not only are these great changes in the admin- 
istration of the world to be introduced at that period ; 
another event of the utmost significance to the con- 
version and sanctification of men is to signalize that 
epoch. Satan and his legions are to be banished from 
the earth, and intercepted during the thousand years 
from tempting the nations. 

^^ And I saw an angel come down from heaven hav- 
ing the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain 
in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old 
serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him 
a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless 
pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that 
he should deceive the nations no more, till the thou- 
sand years should be fulfilled ; and after that he must 
be loosed a little season." — Rev. xx. 1-3. 

The binding and imprisonment of Satan, the pro- 
phecy thus declares, is in order that he should deceive 
men no more, till the thousand years should be fin- 
ished. It indicates, therefore, the total interception 
of his tempting agency on them. He is to deceive 



UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 247 

or entice them no more; he is not to exert any tempt- 
ing agency on them whatever during that period. 
And this is signified also by his binding and impri- 
sonment, which indicate that he is to be debarred 
from access to them, and banished from their pre- 
sence. To suppose him capable of influencing them, 
when held a prisoner at a distance in a deep abyss, 
would be to suppose him omnipresent, omniscient, 
and omnipotent, which would be to regard him as a 
god, not a creature. This measure of the divine ad- 
ministration will contribute to distinguish that epoch 
from the present age, and will exert the most mo- 
mentous influence on the condition and conduct of 
the nations and of individuals. How vast the influ- 
ence is which Satan exerts, is seen from the predic- 
tion which follows, that immediately after he is loosed 
again, he is to go out and prompt the nations, which 
are in the four quarters of the earth, to gather them- 
selves together to battle with the saints. He is now, 
the Scriptures represent, the tempter of men to all 
the great sins which they commit. We are directed 
to pray, " Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us 
from the Evil One.'' He is exhibited as reigning in 
the hearts of the children of disobedience ; as betray- 
ing the nations into all their false religions ; as going 
about seeking whom he may devour ; and as cease- 
lessly hurling fiery darts, to protect himself from 
which every one needs the shield of faith. To be 
freed, therefore, at once from all his assaults, \o bo 
exempted from all the vast enginery of his direct in- 



248 THE DATE OF CHRIST^S REIGN. 

fluences, and tlio myriads and millions of evil men 
whom he nses as his instrnments and co-operators, 
will be a momentous change in the condition of men, 
and will remove a most formidable barrier to their 
conversion and subsequent obedience. 



CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 249 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THAT CHRIST IS THUS TO COME AND REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH 
IS THE UNIFORM TEACHING OF THE SCRIPTURES. 

The prophecies adduced in the preceding chapters 
thus, in the clearest manner, exhibit this group of 
momentous events as to occur at the same epoch. It 
is not, however, the teaching of those passages alone 
— it is the representation of the whole series of the 
prophecies that relate to the subject. There is not 
a single passage in the word of God that declares 
that the nations are to be converted before the 
second coming of Christ. Let those who think other- 
wise produce one, if they can. There is not a passage 
that clearly implies that their conversion is to pre- 
cede his coming. So far from it, all the predictions 
that are usually cited as teaching that their conver- 
sion is to take place under the present dispensation, 
before he comes to raise the holy dead, and new cre- 
ate the earth and air, either expressly indicate that 
it is to take place at his second coming, or else sim- 
ply announce that it is to take place, without a speci- 
fication of the period ; and are, therefore, in harmonv 

IP 



250 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 

with the numerous predictions that its epoch is that 
of his second advent and commencing reign on the 
earth. Thus the prophecy, Isaiah ii. 2-4, is often 
quoted as foreshowing that all nations are to be con- 
verted by the means now employed to Christianize 
them, and anterior to Christ^s coming. 

" And it shall come to pass in the last days, the 
mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in 
the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above 
the hills ; and all nations shall flow unto it. And 
many people shall go and say: Come ye, and let us 
go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of 
the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, 
and we will walk in his paths ; for out of Zion shall 
go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Je- 
rusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and 
shall rebuke many people ; and they shall beat their 
swords into plough-shares and their spears into 
pruning-hooks ; nation shall not lift sword against 
nation, neither shall they learn war any more.'' 

This is alleged as a prediction that all nations are 
to be converted from idolatry, and enter the Chris- 
tian church anterior to Christ's coming ; but it is 
clearly by a gratuitous assumption. There is not a hint 
in it, that the exaltation of the Lord's house, and the 
flowing of all nations to it, is to precede his personal 
advent. Instead, the time when these great events are 
to take place, is expressly declared to be the " last days," 
which are sometimes indeed employed in the prophe- 
cies to denote the close of the present age, but usual- 



CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 251 

ly the time when Christ is to come in the clouds of 
heaven and receive the dominion of the earth, that 
all people and nations may serve him. Thus they 
sometimes denote the day of the resurrection ; as 
when Martha said in respect to Lazarus, ^^I know 
that he shall rise again at the last day/' John xi. 24, 
and vi. 39, 40, 44, 54. Sometimes they denote the 
day of judgment, as in the expression, " The same 
shall judge him in the last day,'' John xii. 48. Some- 
times they denote the great and terrible day of 
Christ's coming, immediately before which the sun 
is to be turned into darkness and the moon into 
blood ; and when he is to pour out of his Spirit on 
all flesh, and convert the nations universally by his 
mighty influences, as Joel ii. 28, 32 ; Acts ii. 16, 21. 
The period to which the prophecy refers is thus 
shown, by that designation, to be that of Christ's 
coming ; and this is confirmed and made indisputa- 
ble by the latter part of the prediction, in which it 
is foretold that " the day of the Lord," when that 
shall be accomplished, '^ shall be upon every one 
that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is 
lifted up ; and he shall be brought low, and the lofti- 
ness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughti- 
ness of men shall be made low, and the Lord alone 
shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall 
abolish utterly. And they shall go into the holes of the 
Tochs^ and into the caves of the earthy for fear of the 
Lord J and for the glory of his majesty iclicn he ariseth 
to sJiaJce terrihly the eartli^'' ii. 10-21. Their attempt- 



252 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 

ing to hide themselves in the clefts of the rocks and 
the caverns of the mountains, for fear of the Lord, 
and for the glory of his majesty, shows that there is 
to be a visible manifestation of his majesty that will 
strike them with terror. Why should they seek to 
conceal themselves in the clefts and dens of the rocks, 
if there are no signals of the avenging presence of 
the Almighty ? But the period is still further defined 
by Micah in his prophecy of the same events, ex- 
pressed in nearly the same language, chap. iv. 6-10, 
as the period of the restoration of the Israelites, and 
of the Lord's beginning to reign over them in Mount 
Zion for ever and ever. " In that day, saith the 
Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will 
gather her that is driven out, and her that I have 
afflicted ; and I will make her that halted a remnant, 
and her that was cast off a strong nation, and the 
Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from hence- 
forth even for ever. And thou, tower of the flock, 
the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall 
it come, even the first dominion ; the kingdom shall 
come to the daughter of Zion.'' This renders it in- 
disputable that the last days, when all nations are to 
go unto the house of the Lord at Mount Zion, are the 
days of Christ's second advent, when he is to com- 
mence his reign there for ever and ever ; for the 
period when he is to receive the dominion of the 
earth, and enter on it as his everlasting kingdom, is 
expressly defined in Daniel, as that of his coming in 
the clouds of heaven ; by Zechariah, as that of his 



CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 253 

descending on the Mount of Olives, and delivering 
his people from the hostile nations ; and by John, in 
the Apocalypse, as that of the seventh trumpet, when 
the kingdom of the world is to become his, and the 
time of the dead arrives that he should judge and give 
the reward to his servants the prophets, and the 
saints and all that fear his name, both small and great, 
and reign for ever and ever. Christ is not to com- 
mence his everlasting reign on the earth antecedent- 
ly to his receiving it at his coming in the clouds, as 
his everlasting kingdom, that is not to pass away or 
be destroyed, Dan. vii. 14. How can it be then given 
him as an everlasting kingdom, if it is as much his be- 
fore as it will be made his by that gift ; and if he is 
to reign over it as much, and in the same manner be- 
fore, as he will after that reception of it as his? These 
prophecies thus not only present no intimation that 
the conversion of the nations is to take place before 
Christ's coming, but they define its period by the 
most indubitable marks, as that of his coming in 
power and glory to judge the nations, redeem his 
people, and commence his reign, which is to continue 
for ever. 

An attempt is often inade, however, to get rid of 
this great feature of these prophecies, by the pretext 
that they are altogether figurative ; that the Lord's 
house, Zion, and Jerusalem, are only representatives 
of the Christian church ; the going of the nations 
there to worship, representative of tlie accession of 
the Gentiles to that church ; and the glory of the 



254 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 

majesty of the Lord, from which men are to endeavor 
to hide themselves, the moral glory of his administra- 
tion ; that all, therefore, that it means is, that the 
Gentiles are to be Christianized and enter the church ; 
and that God is to display the glory of his perfections 
in his administration over men. But this, in the first 
place, is wholly arbitrary and absurd. There is no 
figure by which the prophecy can be representative 
in that manner ; the whole pretext is groundless 
and contradictory to the laws of the hypocatastasis 
and allegory, the only figures in which things of one 
kind are used as representatives of things of another. 
Next, it makes the prophecy a senseless jumble of in- 
congruities and contradictions. If the Lord's house, 
as authors placing this construction on the prediction 
maintain, signifies the Christian church, and that 
church comprises all nations, what is meant by all 
nations flowing unto it, and going to worship in it ? 
Can any nonsense be grosser than to talk of nations 
going to themselves as a house, and worshipping in 
themselves as such ? If, moreover, the Lord^s house 
is a mere representative, must not the nations that 
go there to worship be representatives also ? But if 
so, of what? Not of themselves, certainly. That 
would be to make the prediction literal instead of 
representative ; for, if the Gentiles denote themselves, 
why is not the house representative of the house ; 
and their going up to the Lord's house, representa- 
tive of their really going there ; and the whole pro- 
phecy literal instead of figurative ? But, if not thus 



CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 255 

literal, but representative of things different from the 
house, Zion, Jerusalem, and going there — ^which it 
must be, if figurative — then the nations, also, must 
represent some other order of beings than them- 
selves ; and their going to Jerusalem, as representa- 
tives, to worship, cannot denote their own conversion, 
but only the Christianization of the agents whom 
they represent. This construction, therefore, de- 
feats itself, and excludes from the prophecy the very 
signification which it attempts to fasten on it ; and 
turns it into a prediction that some other order of 
beings besides mankind are to go to worship God at 
the place signified by Jerusalem. On the same prin- 
ciple, the idols that are to be cast to the moles and 
the bats, the caverns of the earth and the clefts of 
the rocks to which men flee to hide themselves from 
the glory of God^s visible majesty, and that awe-in- 
spiring majesty itself, are mere representatives, and 
the whole prophecy is thus made to refer not only to 
a different order of beings from mankind, but a differ- 
ent world from our earth, and to the majesty of a dif- 
ferent deity from our Jehovah ; and is thus made a 
senseless and impious mockery of both him and man. 
What more preposterous notion can be conceived, 
than that the moral majesty of God displayed in his 
ordinary administration of the world, should strike 
Christianized and converted nations with such dread 
and terror, as to lead them to flee to caverns and dens 
to hide themselves from it? Is it with terror in- 
stead of adoration — is it with fright and despair, that 



256 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 

the glory of God^s perfections and sway impresses 
his children? Besides, how would a retreat to the 
clefts of the rocks and the tops of the ragged rocks 
serve to hide that glory from their perception ? If 
the majesty that is to awe and overwhelm them is to 
be discerned by the intellect simply, not by the out- 
ward eye, will it not be as perceptible in the gloom 
of caverns, and in the darkness of midnight, as in the 
glare of noonday ? 

Such are the open contradictions to the plain teach- 
ings of the prophecy, such the repulsive absurdities 
in which they involve themselves who attempt to in- 
vest it with a figurative meaning, by treating it as 
representative of objects, persons, and acts of a dif- 
ferent class from those which its language denotes. 

Another passage frequently alleged as showing the 
conversion of the nations under the present system 
of means, and anterior to the coming of Christ, is the 
prediction, Isaiah xi. 9 : " For the earth shall be full 
of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover 
the sea.'^ But this declaration, taken by itself, does 
not present any indication when the event it an- 
nounces is to occur. To assume from the mere lan- 
guage that it is to be accomplished antecedently to 
Christ's advent, is to take for granted the point it is 
employed to demonstrate. Nor is there anything in 
the context that indicates that that universal diffu- 
sion of the knowledge of the Lord is to take place 
under the present dispensation, and be the result, as 
is imagined by those w^ho thus misapply the predic- 



CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 257 

tion, of missions and other agencies, like those now 
employed by the church to communicate the gospel 
to the heathen. Instead, it is shown in the clearest 
manner, that its period is to be that of the reign of 
the Messiah, and the redemption of Israel. Thus it 
is to be at the period when "a rod out of the stem of 
Jesse shall judge the poor with righteousness, and 
reprove with equity the meek of the earth ; with the 
rod of his mouth, and w^ith the breath of his lips, 
shall he slay the wicked f and that, we are shown in 
the Apocalypse, is to be at his second coming, as the 
King of kings and Lord of lords. In the vision of his 
descent to the great battle, in which the beast and 
false prophet were destroyed, out of his mouth went 
a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the na- 
tions ; and the remnant of the armies of his enemies 
were slain with it ; and it is declared that he is to 
rule the nations with a rod of iron, Eev. xix. 15-21. 
It is to be at the time, also, when " the wolf shall 
dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down 
with the kid ; and the calf, and the young lion, and 
the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them,^^ 
V. 6. But that, we are taught, Isaiah Ixv, is to bo 
after the creation of the new heavens and earth ; and 
that we learn — Isaiah Ixvi. 15, 16, and Eev. xxi. 1, 9 — 
is to follow Christ's coming in the clouds of heaven 
with fire and chariots like a whirlwind, to render his 
anger to his enemies with fury, and his rebuke with 
flames of fire. It is also to be at the period of tlio 
restoration of the Israelites, which, it is foreshown in 



258 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 

many prophecies, is to take place at Christ^s second 
coming and the commencement of his reign, and it is 
expressly indicated here that he is then visibly to 
reveal himself in his glory to the nations. " And in 
that day there shall be a root of Jesse which shall 
stand for an ensign for the people; unto him shall the 
Gentiles seek, and his rest" — the place of his resi- 
dence — his throne — '' shall be glorious." Christ is 
thus to be personally present in the glory of his ma- 
jesty, as is shown, Isaiah ii. 19, 21 ; Ixv. 17-25 ; Ixvi. 
15-23 ; Zech. xiv. 1, 9, 16, 21 ; for how can he stand 
for an ensign — a visible signal like a banner waving 
in the sky — like a beacon flaming on a mountain top 
— if he is no more visibly present than he now is ? 
How can his residence, his throne, be glorious to the 
eyes of the Gentiles who seek unto him, if no such 
residence is visible, if no external glory indicates his 
presence there ? To deny that this is the meaning 
of the passage, and attempt to make it representative, 
is not only to divest it of its true import, but is to 
make it the vehicle of a senseless and monstrous 
falsehood ! For if the Redeemer, his standing for an 
ensign, and the glory of his abode or presence, are 
mere representatives of something different from 
themselves ; then, in the first place, the Saviour is 
excluded from that which is predicted, and he is to 
have no place in the events foreshown ; and next, the 
Gentiles and the Israelites, and the acts and events 
affirmed of them, must also be representative of things 
different from themselves, and the prophecy ceases 



CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 259 

to have any relation to the inhabitants of this world, 
and to the world itself, and some other sphere and 
some other order of beings are its subjects ! There 
is no escape from this monstrous perversion of the 
prophecy, but by rejecting the notion that it is re- 
presentative (got up for the very purpose of ascrib- 
ing to it a meaning to suit the fancy of the interpre- 
ter), and receiving it in its simple character, as a lan- 
guage prediction that is to be understood according 
to the usual and established laws of speech. And, 
interpreted by those laws, it presents indisputable 
indications that the period when the knowledge of 
the Lord is to fill the whole earth as the waters cover 
the sea, is the period when the Son of God shall come 
in person and glory, reveal himself to the nations, and 
enter on his visible millennial reign ; when the earth 
and the atmosphere are to be renovated, the animals 
are to be divested of their ferocious and noxious na- 
tures, and all mankind are to be renewed, and become 
willing and joyous subjects of Christ^s sceptre. 

Another passage alleged to prove that the world 
is to become Christ^s anterior to his coming, is the 
promise in the second Psalm, "Ask of me, and I shall 
give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the 
uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. ^^ But 
there is no intimation in this promise, nor in the con- 
text, that he is to receive the gift anterior to his ad- 
vent and assumption of the sceptre of the earth. On 
the contrary, that Psalm expressly shows that tlic 
period when the nations are to become his inherit- 



260 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 

ance, is that of his being constituted king on the hill 
of Zion ; and that is the time of his coming in the 
clouds at the destruction of the beast, and receiving 
the dominion of the earth. Thus, at the time at which 
he is to be constituted king, the nations are to be 
gathered together to intercept him from his throne, 
and exempt themselves from his dominion : ^' The 
kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take 
counsel together against the Lord, and against his 
Christ ; saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and 
cast their cords from us,'' v. 2, 3. This conspiracy is 
that of the great battle, doubtless, sjonbolized Reve- 
lation xix. 11-21, and that foreshown also Zech. xiv, 
when Christ is to descend from heaven and destroy 
the hostile hosts : '' He that sitteth in the heavens 
shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision. 
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex 
them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king 
upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. 
The Lord hath said unto me, thou art my Son ; this 
day have I begotten thee ; ask of me, and I shall give 
thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utter- 
most parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt 
break them with a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash them 
like a potter's vessel," v. 4-9. It is thus clearly taught 
that the time when the inheritance of the heathen 
and most distant parts of the earth are to be given to 
him, is the time when he is to be established on Zion 
as its king ; and that we know from Isaiah, Daniel, 
and Zechariah, is to be at his coming in the clouds of 



CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 261 

heaven, and receiving from the Ancient of days the 
dominion of the earth, that all people, nations, and 
tongues should serve him ; and from the Revelation, 
that it is to be at the seventh trumpet, when the 
kingdom of this world is to become his, and he is to 
reign over it for ever and ever ; and it is then that 
he is to break them with a rod of iron, and dash them 
as a potter^s vessel. Rev. xix. 15. The Psalm, thus, 
instead of indicating that the nations are to be con- 
verted before Christ's coming, teaches us in the clear- 
est manner, that it is not till he comes in power and 
glory, and assumes the dominion of the earth, that he 
is to conquer the hosts that are arrayed against him, 
and bring all the tribes and nations that survive his 
avenging judgments into obedience to his gracious 
sway. 

In like manner, the song of Moses, the servant of 
God, and the song of the Lamb, ^' Great and marvel- 
lous are thy works. Lord God Almighty : just and 
true are thy ways, thou king of saints. Who shall 
not fear, Lord, and glorify thy name ; for thou only 
art holy ; for all the nations shall come and worship 
before thee, because thy judgments have been made 
manifest,'^ Rev. xv. 3-4, are often cited as showing 
that all nations are to be converted under the present 
administration, anterior to Christ's coming. The 
song, however, contains no intimation that the reno- 
vation of the nations is to precede his advent. On 
the contrary, the passage shows in the clearest man- 
ner that the judgments, in consequence of Avhicli they 



262 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 

are to fear God and go to worship him, are the judg- 
ments of the vials immediately before his advent, and 
especially the seventh trumpet, under which he is to 
descend in the clouds, destroy the wild beast and false 
prophet, and establish his millennial throne on the 
earth. 

There are other passages which foreshow that the 
whole world is at length to become subject to his 
sway, and rejoice in his dominion, such as Psalms xcvi. 
and xcvii ; but they all, if they indicate the period 
when it is to take place, show in the plainest manner 
that it is when he comes to judge the earth, and to 
reign over it as its king. Not a solitary prediction 
represents the renovation of the nations as to precede 
his advent. 

This great futurity, then, is presented to us in the 
clearest and most impressive manner on the sacred 
page ;— it is taught in every variety of form that could 
contribute to give it certainty, and preclude the no- 
tion that the conversion of the world is to take place 
under the present administration, and precede Christ^s 
second coming. It is the voice of the whole pro- 
phetic word on the subject, that the civil and ecclesi- 
astical enemies of Christ^s kingdom and corrupters 
of the nations, denoted by the beast and false prophet, 
and the systems of idol worship, are to continue in 
the predominance to the end of the present age ; that 
at the close of this age, the witnesses of Jesus, instead 
of being victors and reigning in peace, are to be per- 
secuted and slaughtered, down to the time in which 



CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 263 

their persecutors are to be arraigned at the tribunal 
of the Ancient of days, and consigned to destruction ; 
that at the period of their destruction, the Son of 
Man is to come in the clouds of heaven, receive the 
dominion of the earth, and enter on a reign over it in 
person as its king, and exercise an administration 
very unlike that of the present age ; and that it is 
under his reign in person over the world, that all na- 
tions are to be brought to obedience to his sceptre. 
The time and the great attendants of their renovation, 
are thus placed as absolutely beyond doubt, as they 
can be by any revelation that could have been given 
of them. Its epoch is woven into the whole web of 
the prophecies respecting Christ's kingdom. There 
is not one of the predictions of his Millennial or ever- 
lasting reign over the world in which it is not a con- 
spicuous element. And there are no countervailing 
predictions ; there is not a syllable in the sacred word 
that is not in harmony with them. 

Let us receive it, then, with the awe, the confidence 
in its wisdom, the joy, which his gracious will should 
inspire. It is the method of procedure he has chosen, 
because best adapted to the great ends he is pursuing, 
most glorious to himself, most benignant to men ; es- 
sential, indeed, doubtless to the redemption of the 
world, and the just understanding of it by the uni- 
verse. And to whom but to him does it belong to do- * 
termine what the administration shall be, under which 
the nations are to be converted? Are men wiser 
than he ? Are they his counsellors ? A humble and 



264 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 

broken heart will never arrogate to itself such an 
office. Instead, its utterance will be that of the mul- 
titude of the redeemed before the throne, clothed 
with white robes and palms in their hands : " Salva- 
tion to our God who sitteth upon the throne and unto 
the Lamb/^ Its song will be that of Moses the ser- 
vant of God and the song of the Lamb. " Great and 
marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty ; just 
and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who 
shall not fear thee, Lord, and glorify thy name, as 
alone holy ! For all nations shall come and worship 
before thee : because thy judgments have been made 
manifest/' Its prayer will be that of the apostle, 
who beheld his coming in the clouds of heaven : 
" Come, Lord Jesus,'' ^' Come quickly." 



EVENTS THAT ARE TO FOLLOW CHPJST^S COMING, 265 



CHAPTER XX. 

CHEIST's coming. THE FIRST GREAT EVENTS THAT ARE TO FOLLOW 

IT. THE RESURRECTION OF THE HOLY DEAD. THE TRANSFORMA- 
TION OF LIVING BELIEVERS. 

At the moment of Christ's coming, the earth is to be 
shrouded in total darkness, by an interception of the 
light of the snn, moon, and other heavenly orbs : the 
effect of which will be, to invest his approach with the 
utmost conspicuity and resplendence. " Immediately 
after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be 
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and 
the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the 
heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the 
sign of the Son of Man in heaven : and then shall 
all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see 
the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with 
power and great glory." Matt. xxiv. 29, 30. • How 
immeasurably will the spectacle transcend any con- 
ception we can form of it ! In what dazzling splen- 
dors Avill he be arrayed to bo visible at such a distance 
as to be beheld at the same time by the inhabitants 

of a whole hemisphere ! He is to be attended by the 

12 



266 THE RESURRECTION OF THE HOLY DEAD. 

redeemed and all the armies of his angels ; . thousands 
and myriads of millions ; hosts countlessly more nu- 
merous than could be grouped in the arch of heaven 
when bounded by the most distant horizon we can 
see. In what effulgence must they be clothed, to be 
severally visible ! With what overwhelming impres- 
sions will the spectacle strike the nations ! Every heart 
will know that it is he, and will understand the object 
of his coming : and held generally, as the tribes of the 
earth will still be, in the thrall of idol-worship, and 
sunk to the lowest depths of moral and social debase- 
ment, they will be taken by surprise, and filled with 
consternation. 

The first great act he is to exert on his coming is 
the raising of the holy dead. " For the Lord himself 
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the 
voice of the archangel and the trump of God ; and 
the dead in Christ shall rise first.'^ Thess. iv. 16. 
His approach thus with shouts of ascription from the 
infinite hosts of his attendants of power and wisdom 
to recall his holy dead to life ; and of utterances of won- 
der and joy, at the graciousness and beauty of his de- 
sign, and his victory and triumph over death, is inex- 
pressibly grand. His hovering armies are not to be 
silenfspectators of the scene. That were unbefitting 
the greatness of the moment. Their hearts are to 
swell with an irrepressible sense of the grandeur of 
his attributes and purposes, and are to breathe their 
fervid homage in ascriptions of might, and wisdom, 
and love ; in bursts of adoration and joy at the re- 



THE RESURRECTION OP THE HOLY DEAD. 267 

demption he is to accomplish for his saints. What 
an epoch will it be to the conscious universe ! What 
a moment to the rising dead ! What a manifestation 
will it present of Christ^s deity ; of the fulness of his 
perfections ; and of his dominion over his works ! 
No other display of the beauty of illimitable power 
and knowledge, all-perfect goodness and grace, can 
transcend that which the instant summons of myriads 
and millions of human beings from the ruins of death 
to a glorious and immortal life will form. They are 
to be raised incorruptible and spiritual. " It is sown 
in corruption ; it is raised in incorruption : it is sown 
in dishonor, it is raised m glory ; it is sown in weak- 
ness, it is raised in power : it is sown a natural body, 
it is raised a spiritual hodjj^ 1 Corin. xv. 42-44. 
" Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first 
resurrection ; on such the second death hath no 
power. '^. Rev. xx. 6. By this nature they vdll be 
freed from the laws of our present bodies, and be fit- 
ted like the transfigured saints to ascend into the 
atmosphere to meet the Lord, Thess. iv. 17, and of 
passing like Christ, if need be, from this world to 
others. It is not intimated that their resurrection 
is to be known at the time to living believers and 
others. It seems rather that it is not. For a voice 
from a great multitude proclaimed that " the marriage 
of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself 
ready /^ he/ore the descent of the Word of Cod Avith 
his armies to the great battle with tlio beast and his 
liosls : and it is added that to her was ii'rantod tliat 



268 THE RESURRECTION OF THE HOLY DEAD. 

*' she should be arrayed in fine linen, pur« and white ; 
for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints/' Rev. 
xix. 5-9. This implies, that the saints, whom the 
bride represents, are to be raised justified, and ad- 
mitted to the stations they are to fill as kings and 
priests in his kingdom — which is symbolized by his 
marriage to them — before the destruction of the 
powers denoted by the wild beast and false prophet. 
The risen saints accordingly clothed in fine linen and 
seated on white horses, are exhibited as attending 
him in his descent from heaven to destroy the ene- 
mies symbolized by the beast and his armies, who 
are to be gathered together in war against him. 
Rev. xix. 14. It is foreshown also, Zech. xiv. 5, 
that when he comes to destroy the hosts who are to 
be gathered against Jerusalem for the purpose of 
preventing the establishment of his kingdom there, 
he is to bring all his saints with him. They are to 
be constituted kings and priests unto God and to 
Christ, and are to reign with him the thousand years. 
Those offices, and the beauty and glory of their na- 
ture, indicate that the sphere they are to fill is to be 
of great dignity and power. It is to lie especially 
in this world, it would seem, and in the sway of the 
nations ; as they are to reign with Christ, and are — 
it is foreshown in Daniel vii. 18-27 — -to take the king- 
dom, and possess it along with him forever and ever. 
And it seems eminently suitable that Christ should 
unfold to them such a scene of activity, in which their 
lofty powers may find ample scope for exertion, and 



THE CHANGE OP THE LIVING BELIEVERS. 269 

they may testify their love to him, and joy in the re- 
demption of the race by taking a share in the instruc- 
tion and government of the crowds that are to come 
into existence, and be made partakers of his grace 
from age to age. They may, also, not improbably fill 
important offices of authority and love to other orders 
of intelligences, and carry the knowledge of the work 
of redemption, as it advances from period to period, 
to all the countless worlds that wheel in the realms 
of space. They are not to be idle spectators of the 
great scenes Christ's kingdom is to present. They 
are not to be debarred from testifying, by an active 
service, the sincerity of their allegiance, and the fer- 
vor of their love. A theatre of activity is to be 
opened to them commensurate with the greatness of 
their powers, and the intimacy of their union to 
Christ ; and they are to fill offices and render obedi- 
ences that will form a fit expression of their gratitude 
and devotion to him ; and carry to the universe who 
witness their allegiance, indubitable proofs of the 
reality of their restoration to holiness, and fill all 
hearts with a sense of the grandeur of the redemp- 
tion Christ accomplishes. 

The living believers also are at Christ^s coming, to 
be freed from the sentence to death, and rendered 
immortal. " Behold, I tell you a mystery : We shall 
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a mo- 
ment, in tlie twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. 
For it shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incor- 
ruptible, and Ave shall be changed. For this corrupti- 



270 THE CHANGE OF THE LIVING BELIEVERS. 

ble must put on incorruption ; and this mortal put on 
immortality. And when this corruptible shall have 
put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put 
on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the say- 
ing that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 
Where, death, is thy sting : where, grave, is thy 
victory V^ 1 Corin. xv. 51-55. The change of the 
living, therefore, is not like that of the dead, to in- 
corruptible, but only to immortal, or a freedom from 
the causes and from the sentence of death. Their 
transfiguration to glory is probably to take place at 
a later period ; as it is foretold that it is at a later 
period that they are to be caught up in the air to 
meet the Lord. ETrelra, ^^ afterwards"— that is at a 
time subsequent to the resurrection of the holy dead, 
" we the living Avho survive shall be caught up to- 
gether with them in the clouds, to the presence of 
the Lord in the air ; and so we shall ever be with 
the Lord," 1 Thess. iv. 17. For such a change the 
apostle indicates Christ is at length to accomplish for 
the living as well as the dead : '' We look for the 
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our 
vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glo- 
rious body, according to the working whereby he is 
able even to subdue all things to himself," Phil. iii. 
20. 21. The apostle does not declare, 1 Corin. xv. 
52, that the living are to be changed to immortal at 
the same moment as the dead are raised in incorrup- 
tion ; he only affirms that their change is to take 
place under the last or seventh trumpet, which un- 
doubtedly from the great number of events that are 



THE CHANGE OF THE LIVING BELIEVERS. 271 

to take place under it, will sound for a series of years. 
Nor is it certain that all the living believers will be 
changed at the same time. It is not improbable 
that the first who are to be rendered immortal, are 
those who are represented by the hnndred and forty- 
four thousand, who are said to be '^'•edeemed from 
among men, the first fruits unto God and the Lamb/^ 
Eev. xiv. 4. That others are not to be changed till 
a later period, seems indicated by the prediction 
that it is not until after Christ has come, that he is 
to " send forth his angels with a great sound of a 
trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect 
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to 
another,'^ Matt. xxiv. 31 ; and that some who are to 
be invited to the marriage feast, are not to be ready 
till a later period. Matt. xxv. 1-13. The living be- 
lievers are to be gathered together before Christ and 
judged also before they are to be admitted to his 
kingdom. Matt. xxv. 31-40. These transactions 
may occupy very considerable periods. The re- 
lease from the sentence to death is at length — after 
the judgments of the seventh trumpet on the wicked 
have been executed, to be extended to all, at least all 
the regenerated. For on the making of all things 
new, it is declared " there shall be no more death, 
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there bo 
any more pain ; for the former things are passed 
away,'^ Eev. xxi. 4. What momentous changes in 
the condition of the race ! What a display llio}' 
will form of Christ's power! What an exomplilica- 
tion of the graciousness of his purposes ! 



272 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ANTI-CHRISTIAN POWERS. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

EVENTS THAT ARE IMMEDIATELY TO FOLLOW CHRIST's COMING ; THE 
DESTRUCTION OF THE ANTI-CHRISTIAN POWERS ; THE BINDING OF 

SAT.VN. 

The next great act of the Saviour will be the de- 
struction of the civil and ecclesiastical powers de- 
noted by the wild beast of ten horns, the false pro- 
phet and their armies. The monarchs of Western 
Europe with other kings and the pope, that are to be 
in league with them, are at that time to be assembled 
in war against him. Three unclean spirits like frogs 
are to go out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of 
the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the 
false prophet. For they are the spirits of demons 
working miracles, which go forth to the kings of the 
whole inhabited world — the whole Eoman empire, 
eastern and Avestern — to gather them to the battle of 
that great day of God Almighty," Rev. xvi. 13, 14. 
And the ten horns of the beast in its last form, which 
are to receive pov/er as kings at the same time with 
the beast, it is foreshown, '^ shall make war with the 
Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them ; for he i? 



THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ANTI-CHRISTIAN POWERS. 273 

Lord of lords, and King of kings/^ Eev. xvii. 12-14. 
Their aim is to be to prevent the establishment of 
his throne and kingdom on the earth ; and by cap- 
turing Jerusalem, which is to be the metropolis of 
the new Hebrew kingdom, and dispersing the Israel- 
ites who will have returned and re-established them- 
selves there ; as is seen fromZechariah xiv, where it 
is foreshown that " in the day of the Lord all nations 
are to be gathered against Jerusalem in battle,'^ and 
are to take and sack the city, carry half its population 
into captivity, and seem for the moment to have 
achieved their object. This indicates that they will 
understand distinctly that it is the teaching of the 
Scriptures and the expectation of those who look for 
Christ^s coming, that the kingdom of Israel is again 
to be established in Palestine, and that the Son of 
God is to reign over it in person. Their war is 
therefore to be directly a war with him, for the pur- 
pose of falsifying his word, and preventing his as- 
sumption of the world as his empire. It w^ill be 
eminently appropriate therefore that he should in- 
terpose in person, confound their impious schemes, 
and dash them to destruction. And he is to go forth, 
the prophet foreshows, and fight against those na- 
tions, and destroy their hosts by a storm of devour- 
ing fire. ^' Their flesh shall consume away while 
they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall con- 
sume away in their sockets, and their tongue shall 
consume away in their mouth,^^ v. 12. That they 

are to be destroyed by fire is foreshown also Daniel 

12^ 



274 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ANTI-CHRISTIAN POWERS. 

vii. 9-11 ; Isaiah Ixvi. 15, 16 ; 2 Thess. i. 7-9 ; Psalm 
xi. 6 ; xcvii. 3. 

It is indicated also in the Apocatypse tha.t the 
great battle at which they are to be destroyed, is to 
take place in Palestine. The unclean spirits are to 
gather the kings of the earth in a place called in the 
Hebrew tongue, Armageddon, the battle field on the 
great plain of Esdraelon where Sisera was defeated, 
Judges V. 19-21, and Josiah was slain, 2 Kings xxiii. 
29, 30. In the vision of the battle, Eev. xix. 11-21, 
^^ the beast was taken and with him the false prophet 
that wrought miracles before him, and they were 
cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone ; 
and the remnant were slain with the sword which 
proceeded from the mouth of him who sat upon the 
horse. ^' Such is to be the end of their impious usur- 
pation of his throne, their attempt to substitute an 
idolatrous worship in place of his, their tyranny over 
the nations, and their merciless persecution and 
slaughter of his faithful followers ! What a just vindi- 
cation of himself! What an appropriate retribution 
for their crimes ! It will be the most fearful specta- 
cle of which the world is to be the scene, till the 
great hour arrives when the revolters after the close 
of the thousand years are to meet a like destruction 
by fire, and the unholy dead are to be raised and re- 
ceive their final doom ; and it will doubtless fill all 
orders of beings who witness it, or learn its occur- 
rence and character from the lips of witnesses, with 



THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ANTI- CHRISTIAN POWERS. 275 

a resistless sense of God's wrath at sinners, and the 
guilt of sin. 

And what a deliverance to the surviving popula- 
tion of the world ! These usurping powers and their 
predecessors have been the great corrupters of the 
nations of Christendom for fifteen centuries. It was 
they who intermixed the worship of saints, angels, 
idols, and relics with the worship of God in the 
church. It was they who instituted the sacrifice of 
the mass, in place of Christ's sacrifice. It was they 
who claimed the right of legislating over the church 
and Christianity itself, annulled the laws of Christ, 
and substituted a false and corrupt system in their 
place. It was they who set up the pope as Christ's 
vicar, claimed for him the rights and honors of an 
absolute dominion over the word of God, and over 
the church and the world, and compelled their sub- 
jects in effect to worship him. It was they Avho de- 
nied the word of God to the people, and held them 
in the thrall of ignorance and superstition, that they 
might make them the instruments of their avarice, 
their sensuality, and their ambition. It was they 
who persecuted the true worshippers from age to 
age, and consigned myriads and millions of them to 
torture and to death, for their allegiance to him ! 
What a riddance to the world to have them swept 
from its bosom, never more to recover their place 
here ; never more to resume their work of debasing 
and corrupting mankind ; never more to wreak their 
infuriate passions on the holy! There will be no 



276 THE IMPRISOXMEXT OF SATAN. 

more corrupters of the race by wicked laAvs and evil 
examples ; there will be no more perverters of reli- 
gion by false doctrines and lying miracles. Christ 
will be the only law-giver, and his laws will be uni- 
versally received and obeyed. 

Another great act he is to exert, preparatory to the 
institution of his kingdom, is the banishment of Satan 
and his angels from the earth, and release of the race 
from their tempting influences. This is foreshown 
under the symbols of the binding of Satan with a 
chain and shutting him in an abyss. The apostle 
says, " I saw an angel come down from heaven, hav- 
ing the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain 
in his hand. 'And he laid hold on the dragon, that 
old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound 
him a thousand years ; and cast him into the bottom- 
less pit, and shut him up and set a seal upon him, that 
he should deceive the nations no more, till the thou- 
sand years should be fulfilled ; and after that he must 
be loosed a little season,'^ Rev. xx. 1-3. Satan is here 
the symbol of himself and all the fallen angels and 
demons, who are his co-workers and agents in tempt- 
ing and deluding the nations. His being bound by a 
great chain, cast into the bottomless pit, and shut in 
it by closing and sealing its door, represents their 
being debarred — by removal to a distant scene and 
held there under restraint, — from access to mankind 
and precluded from assailing them with a tempting 
agency. It foreshows therefore that mankind are to 
be delivered from the presence of the devil and his 



THE IMPEISONMENT OF SATAN. 277 

angels during the period denoted by the thousand 
years, and exempted-from all influences from him and 
his agents, by which he now deludes them and excites 
them to evil. This will be a far greater riddance 
than their deliverance from the usurping rulers and 
apostate ministers symbolized by the wild beast and 
false prophet. We can form but very inadequate 
conceptions of the vast and benignant change it will 
cause in the condition of the race. Satan now reigns 
in the hearts of the children of disobedience, and 
moulds them to his will ; and exerts all his powers to 
disturb, seduce, and drive the renewed into sin. He 
strives to deceive the intellect, to inflame the imagi- 
nation, to rouse and exacerbate the selfish affections, 
and impel mankind to all the forms of sin of which 
they are capable. The misery and madness with 
which he would smite them, w^ere it in his power, 
were exemplified in the maniacs whom he and his 
legions possessed and tortured in the time of Christ's 
ministry. He is the author and prompter of all the 
false religions in the world, of the tyrannical govern- 
ments, of the corrupt principles and maxims that pre- 
vail ; and of all the vices of ranks and communities, 
and the crimes and sins of individuals. How vast his 
influence is, is seen from the prediction that immedi- 
ately on his being released from prison at the close 
of the thousand years, he is again to seduce the nations 
and lead them into open revolt and war on God's 
children. He is especially the great enemy of Christ's 
kingdom, and contriver and prompter of all the apos- 



278 THE IMPRISONMENT OP SATAN. 

tasies from it, and plots against it. He undertook by 
his temptations to defeat Christ at the commencement 
of his work ; and strove in Gethsemane and on the 
cross to overwhelm him by the fury and terror of his 
onsets. He excited the Jews to reject the gospel and 
persecute the apostles and first converts. He insti- 
gated false teachers to misrepresent its doctrines, to 
disturb the church by dissensions, and to obstruct in 
every form the spread and influence of the truth. He 
especially prompted the great apostasy of the Man of 
sin, whose coming we are told, is after the working 
of Satan, with all power and signs and lying won- 
ders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness 
in them that perish. '^ 2 Thess. ii. 9, 10. And so 
fierce and restless are his assaults on believers, that 
Paul represents each one as needing to be clothed 
in the whole armor of God, in order to be protected 
from his fiery darts. He goes about as a roaring 
lion, seeking whom he may devour ; and all are the 
objects of his malice ; all feel the fury of his as- 
saults. 

Into what silence will the world sink, when the 
whirlwind of his tempting agency is arrested in its 
infuriate career, and he is dashed into the depths of 
the abyss, and its massy gates shut over him and 
sealed ! Into what a calm will the passions of men 
subside I What a stupendous deliverance ! Of how 
large an element in the curse of revolt, will that be a 
repeal ! And how suitable when Christ takes posses- 



THE IMPEISONMENT OF SATAN. 279 

sion of the earth to redeem its tribes and nations, 
that Satan should be banished from his presence, and 
"unobstructed access to their hearts be opened to the 
enlightening, renewing, and sanctifying influence of 
the Holy Spirit! 



280 THE JUDGMENT OF THE LIYIXG NATIONS. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

EVENTS THAT ARE IMMEDIATELY TO FOLLOW CHRIST^S COMING. THE 

JUDGMENT OF THE LIVIXG NATIONS. THE RESTORATION OF THE 

ISRAELITES. THE EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

Another act tliat is to mark the commencement of 
Christ's reign, is the judgment of the living nations. 
^' When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and 
all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon 
the throne of his glory : And before him shall be 
gathered all nations ; and he shall separate them one 
from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from 
the goats ; and he shall set the sheep on his right 
hand, but the goats on the left. Then ehall the King 
say unto them on his right hand : Come ye blessed 
of my Father ; inherit the kingdom prepared for you 
from the foundation of the world. . . Then shall he 
say also unto them on his left hand : Depart from me, 
ye cursed, into everlasting jfire, prepared for the devil 
and his angels. And these shall go away into ever- 
lasting punishment, but the righteous into life eter- 
nal." Matt. XXV. 31-46. 

The subjects of this judgment are the living na- 



THE JUDGMENT OF THE LIVING NATIONS. 281 

tions of the earth at that epoch : the term ra kOvrj, the 
nations being always used in the Scriptures to denote 
the living population of the globe in the great divi- 
sions by which they are distinguished, as peoples un- 
der separate governments, kindreds or tribes de- 
scended from the same ancestor, or tongues, speak- 
ing the same languages. Many hold it to be the general 
judgment ; but that is an error. The reasons of the 
awards assigned them are represented to be their 
conduct toward Christ's disciples in Avants, sicknesses, 
and imprisonments to which they had been subjected. 
" Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom 
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 
For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat ; I was 
thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was a stranger, and 
ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me ; I was 
sick, and ye visited me ; I was in prison, and ye came 
unto me. Verily I say unto you. Inasmuch as ye 
have done it unto one of the least of these my breth- 
ren, ye have done it unto me.'' But unto them on 
his left hand, he will say : ^' Inasmuch as ye did it not 
unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it 
not unto me." This indicates that the disciples of 
Christ are immediately before this judgment to be 
overwhelmed with poverty and suffering, and be cast 
into prison ; and doubtless in the persecution that is 
to rage at Christ's coming ; and that the nations are 
then to be divided into two great parties, one of 
which shall take the side of Christ's sulTevinp: disci- 
ples, and endeavor to relieve their necessities and 



282 ^ THE EESTORATIOX OF THE ISRAELITES. 

soothe their sorrows ; and the other the side of the 
persecutors, and refuse all aid and sympathy to 
Christ^s brethren. It would seem, therefore, that 
those who are then to be judged, are those only who 
have acted in a direct relation to Christ and his peo- 
ple in those circumstances, and whose conduct as 
sympathizing friends, or merciless and hostile spec- 
tators, is to be taken as an index of their dispositions 
toward Christ. 

All the open and relentless enemies of Christ and 
his kingdom are thus to be swept from the earth. 

The restoration of the Israelites and reorganization 
as a people, is to take place soon after Christ^s com- 
ing. A portion of that people are to return and at- 
tempt to reestablish themselves in Jerusalem, it seems 
from Zech. xiv. 1, 2, before his coming ; and it is to be 
the aim of the nations in assailing them to disjoerse 
them again, and prevent the erection of an Israeli- 
tish kingdom there, conformably to the predictions of 
the prophets. The chief re-gathering of that nation 
however, and reorganization as God^s chosen people, 
is to take place after Christ's advent and destruction 
of his and their enemies. It is after he has come 
with fire and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to 
render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames 
of fire, that he is to gather all nations and tongues, 
and they shall come and see his glory ; and he is to 
set a sign among them, and send those that escape 
of them to the nations that have not heard his fame, 
to declare his glory among the Gentiles ; and the3^ 



THE RESTORATION OF THE ISRAELITES. 283 

are to bring all the Israelites an offering unto the 
Lord out of all nations to Jerusalem, and he is to 
take of them for priests and for Levites ; and as the 
new heavens and the new earth which he is to create 
are to remain before him, so is their seed and their 
name to remain. Isaiah Ixvi. 15-22. 

This will in every relation be a great and wonder- 
ful event, and fill the world with awe and joy. Their 
regathering from the four quarters of the globe into 
which they are dispersed, division into the tribes to 
which they belong, and reunion as one people in their 
national land, will accomplish a long series of pro- 
mises and prophecies respecting them of the Old and 
New Testament, and will involve majestic displays of 
God^s knowledge, faithfulness, and power. The co- 
operation of the Gentiles in their return, indicates 
that they are to understand the purpose of God in 
their exile and their restoration, and know the great 
scheme of his future reign over the world. Their re- 
adoption as God^s chosen people, and the resumption 
over them by Christ of a theocratic government, will 
be a sublime event : and their intimate relations to 
him, and the offices they are to fill as priests and Le- 
vites in his kingdom, will invest them with a high 
and sacred influence over the nations. What wit- 
nesses will they forever be of the truth of God's 
covenants and promises ! "What monuments of his 
grace and faithfulness ! With what a dazzling glory 
will his justice shine in the records of their lineage ! 
Who will ever doubt that their redemption is the 



284 THE EFFUSION OF THE SPIRIT. 

work of his power and love, and that the wisdom, and 
truth, and righteousnes, and praise are wholly his ? 
That race have, in their rebellion and apostasies for 
three thousand and five hundred years, presented one 
of the most awful exemplifications the world has seen, 
of what man is. Their restoration to holiness, and 
elevation from the physical degradation to which 
they have sunk, to the dignity and beauty of immor- 
tals, will form one of the most majestic displays of 
which the earth is to be the scene, of the grandeur 
of God's thoughts and purposes of love in the work 
of redemption. 

And finally, God is then to pour out his Spirit in 
effusions immeasurably transcending any which his 
people have hitherto enjoyed. "And it shall come 
to pass afterwards, I will pour out my Spirit upon all 
flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall pro- 
phesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your 
young men shall see visions. And also upon the 
servants and upon the handmaids in those days I will 
pour out my Spirit. '^ This is to be at " the great 
and terrible day of the Lord,'' when as signals of his 
coming, " wonders are to appear in the heavens and 
in the earth, blood and fire, and pillars of smoke ; the 
sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into 
blood." And he is at length to appear for the de- 
liverance of those in Zion who call on his name. Joel 
ii, 28-22 ; Zechariah xiv. 1-11. The influences of 
the Spirit are then to be extended to young and old 
of both sexes and of all ranks, and endow them with 



THE EFFUSION OF THE SPIRIT. 285 

prophetic gifts as well as renew and sanctify them ; 
and they are all to be filled with the knowledge of 
him, and all have his law written on their hearts. 
^' This is the covenant I will make with the house of 
Israel : after those days'^ — the days of their disper- 
sion — '' saith the Lord, I will put my law in their in- 
ward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be 
their God ; and they shall be my people. And they 
shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and 
every man his brother, saying. Know the Lord ; for 
they shall all know me, from the least to the great- 
est of them, saith the Lord ; for I will forgive their 
iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." 
Jerem. xxxi. 32-34. The measures in which they 
are to be crowned with the gifts of the Spirit, are as 
much to surpass those which men now enjoy, as the 
blessings of their external condition are. The dis- 
pensation Christ is to institute, is then to be suited 
in all its relations to the redemption of mankind from 
the sway and curse of sin, and elevate them to the 
rectitude, the intelligence, the dignity, and the bless- 
edness that befit a race restored from revolt, and 
given to dwell under the direct rule, and to enjoy the 
immediate presence and smile of the Divine Re- 
deemer. 



286 THE NEW CREATION OF THE HEAVENS AND EARTH. 



CHAPTER XXIII, 



Tl'cj 



EVENTS THAT ARE SPEEDILY TO FOLLOW CHRISrS COMING. THE 
NEW CREATION OF THE HEAVENS AND EARTH. THE EARTH IS NOT 
TO BE ANNIHILATED BY A CONFLAGRATION. 

Christ is then by a new creation, to restore the air 
and earth from the curse with which they were smit- 
ten by the fall, to a condition much like that probably 
in which they originally existed, and fitting them to 
be the scene of his reign, and the residence of holy 
and immortal beings. That this restitution or trans- 
formation of them is to be wrought at Christ^s com- 
ing, is seen from 2 Peter iii. 7-13, where it is shown 
that it is to take place immediately after the firing of 
the earth and atmosphere at his advent, by which 
the ungodly are to be destroyed, and that it is to be 
that new creation which is promised Isaiah Ixv. 17, 
18, at the restoration of the Israelites to their national 
land. " We according to his promise, look,'^ the 
apostle says, " for new heavens and a new earth, 
wherein dwelleth righteousness f and that is the pro- 
mise of their new creation at the recall of the Israel- 
ites, and readoption as God^s people, Isaiah Ixv. 17- 



THE NEW CREATION OF THE HEAVENS AND EARTH. 287 

25, when the curse on the earth is to be repealed. 
" For behold, I create new heavens, and a new earth, 
and the former shall not be remembered nor come 
into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in 
that which I create : for behold I create Jerusalem a 
rejoicing, and her people a joy, and I will rejoice in 
Jerusalem, and joy in my people ; and the voice of 
weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice 
of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant 
of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days : 
for the child an hundred years old shall die ; and the 
sinner an hundred years old shall be accursed." This 
indicates that the change to be wrought is such, that 
the race will be restored to a vigor of life like that 
of its primitive inhabitants ; so that infancy shall not 
be confined, as now, to a short period, nor the season 
of maturity pass prematurely into the decrepitude of 
old age. The expression, ^^ the child an hundred years 
old shall die ;" is perhaps hypothetical, and means 
that should a child die, it might die a hundred years 
old ; but a sinner of that age would be accursed, or 
reprobate ; and therefore that the supposition that 
he should exist is inconsistent with the righteousness 
and bliss that are to reign in the new earth ; as in the 
parallel passage, Rev. xxi. 4, it is expressly foreshown 
that after the descent of the New" Jerusalem, there is 
not to be any more death. " And God shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes : and there shall be no 
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall 
there be any more pain ; for the former things are 



288 THE NEW CREATION OF THE HEAVENS AND EARTH. 

passed away." And that the descent of the New Je- 
rusalem is to take place at the marriage supper of the 
Lamb, soon after the destruction of Babylon, is shown 
by the prophets falling down to worship the angel 
which, though narrated by him twice, chap. xix. 10, 
xxii. 8, 9, was doubtless a single occurrence ; and as 
it took place on the proclamation from heaven that 
the marriage of the Lamb had come, chap. xix. 10, 
before the vision of the destruction of the wild-beast, 
it indicates, in conformity wdth the prediction of Isa- 
iah and Peter, that the creation of the new heavens 
and descent of the risen saints is to take place at that 
period soon after Christ comes. The earth is thus 
to be prepared by its new creation for the abode of 
mankind in their renovated state, and to be the seat 
of Christ's kingdom and visible reign. " The wilder- 
ness and the solitary place shall be glad ; and the de- 
sert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall 
blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and 
singing : the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, 
the excellency of Carmel and Sharon : they shall see 
the glory of the Lord, — the excellency of our God." 
Isaiah xxv. 1, 2. 

It is generally maintained indeed by Anti-millena- 
rians that the earth is to be annihilated at Christ's 
coming. That belief is founded on the prediction 2 
Peter iii. 3-13. The office however of the fire which 
is there foreshown, is to destroy the wicked, not to 
annihilate the earth, as is seen from the following 
translation and exposition. 



THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 289 

^^ Knowing this first, that there shall come in the 
last of the days mockers, walking according to their 
o^YIl inordinate desires, and saying, Where is the pro- 
mise of his coming ? For since the fathers fell asleep, 
all things continue as from the beginning of the crea- 
tion. For they are willingly ignorant [or inconside- 
rate] of this : that by the word of God the heavens 
w^ere of old, and the earth standing out of water and 
in water, through which [that is, the heavens from 
which the rain fell, and the land which was depressed 
beneath the ocean] the world of that time was de- 
stroyed [that is, made a waste.] But the present 
heavens and earth are by the same word treasured 
up for fire ; reserved to the day of judgment and de- 
struction of the men that are impious. But let it not 
be unknown to [or escape] you, beloved, that one 
day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thou- 
sand years as one day. The Lord is not dilatory re- 
specting the promise, as some count dilatoriness ; but 
is long suffering toward us ; not desiring that any 
should perish, but that all should come to repent- 
ance. 

" But the day of the Lord will come as a thief, in 

which the heavens will pass with a rushing noise ; 

and the elements being kindled will melt ; and the 

earth and the works on it will be burned. As tlien 

all these are (to be) loosed [let loose], what manner 

of persons ought ye to be in holy deportment and 

piety, looking for and earnestly awaiting the coming 

of the day of God, in which the heavens beini;- in- 

13 



290 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 

flamed shall be let loose [to rush in fiery whirlwinds], 
a;nd the elements being fired shall melt. New hea- 
vens, however, and a new earth, we, according to his 
promise, look for, in which righteousness dwells/^ 

This translation gives the sense of the several parts 
just as it is expressed in the original. O! ovpavoi, the 
heavens, are the atmosphere merely, the region of 
winds, clouds, and reflected light ; as in the expres- 
sions '^ the fowls of heaven," " the rain of heaven," 
" the clouds of heaven." The statement that 6 rare 
KOGjLLoc cTTcjAero, the world of that time was destroyed, 
denotes simply that it was destroyed as to its inhab- 
itableness ; not that it was annihilated, or subjected 
to a total dissolution of its parts. It was destroyed 
as an inhabitable world, by the submersion of all its 
land beneath the sea, precisely as a road built on a 
quicksand is said to be destroyed when it sinks be- 
neath the surface ; and a house when it is overthrown 
by a tempest, though the change that takes place is 
a mere change of position, by which it is unfitted for 
the purpose for which it was erected : not an annihi- 
lation, or even a dispersion of its parts. Tuv doepcjv 
dvOpcjnov, are the men that are eminently wicked, the 
impious ; not the sinful simply, for the renewed are 
still sinful ; nor the men unregenerate, for many of 
them, and especially the young, are not impious. 
UapE?.ev(jovTaL shall pass, in the expression, the heavens, 
i. e, the atmosphere shall pass with a rushing noise, 
means simply that it shall rush by in the form of a 
wind, like a tornado ; not that it shall be annihilated. 



THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 291 

or vanish into space, and leave the earth in a vacuum. 
The literal meaning of the verb is, to pass along by ; 
and that it is used in its literal sense, is clear from the 
consideration that the movement which it denotes is 
to be poL^TiSov, with a loud noise, as of a rushing wind. 
It is employed, therefore, literally to signify an ac- 
tual movement of the atmosphere along the surface 
of the earth ; not metaphorically, to express some 
analogous change, such as annihilation, which w^ould 
involve no motion in space, and produce no noise. 
If instead of being employed literally, it were used 
by a metaphor to denote some change that merely 
resembles a motion in space, or the effect of such a 
movement, such as a disappearance like that of a 
body that by its motion passes out of sight, or a ceas- 
ing to be ; then the idea of motion in space would 
be dropped, and only the analogous idea of ceasing 
to be, be retained.' But the idea of motion is not 
here dropped, but is the identical act which the verb 
describes, as is seen from the fact, that the act it de- 
notes, is to produce aloud noise, as of a rushing wind ; 
which could not be, except by a real, and a violent 
and agitated movement. No terms could have been 
used that would have more absolutely defined the 
event denoted as a movement of the air according to 
its ordinary laws, as in a whirlwind or tornado ; and 
excluded the idea of cessation from being or vanish- 
ing into distant space. As then the event which it 
denotes, would have its full accomplishment in furious 
blasts and rushing whirlwinds, like tliose tliat result 



292 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANXIHILx^.TED. 

from volcanic eruptions, the whole meaning of the 
verb is confined to that. No such sense attaches 
to it, therefore, as that ascribed to it by commen- 
tators who seem to regard it as denoting a rush of 
the air from the globe into distant space. Such a 
meaning is as unphilosophical indeed, as it is ground- 
less and contradictory to the language. If, as those 
writers suppose, the atmosphere were to fly from 
the earth, it would not be merely by its being re- 
leased from the force of gravity, but by being en- 
dowed with a positive repellant force, or else sub- 
jected to a powerful attraction from some other 
body ; for if simply released from the force of 
gravity, it would be tlie earth that would fly from 
the atmosphere^ not the atmosphere that would fly 
from the earth. But the first would divest it of its 
povN^er of producing sound, no matter how rapid its 
motion might be ; since if deprived of weight, it 
would be as incapable of vibration as blank space is ; 
and even if still susceptible of vibration, could pro- 
duce no impression on the ear ; as weight and im- 
pulse are necessary to give motion to the drum of the 
ear, and excite the sensation of sound. It could not, 
therefore, produce the loud rushing noise that is to 
attend its motion. The supposition of its being im- 
bued with a repellent force, by which it should fly 
from the earth, is equally inconsistent with its na.- 
ture, and would equally divest it of its power of pro- 
ducing by its departure the sensation of sound. 
What can be more unphilosophical than to suppose 



THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 293 

that the laws of matter are thus to be wholly re- 
versed, or the earth and air invested with a new na- 
ture in order to their destruction ! Are these writers 
aware of the existence of any such repellent force in 
the universe, as, if transfused into the atmosphere or 
earth, would instantly drive them asunder ? Is not 
gravity a property of all matter, and is not its law 
demonstrably from the movements of the heavenly 
bodies, the same in all other spheres as in this ? 
What right have these speculatists to assume that 
that power is to be struck from the air, and a di- 
rectly opposite principle substituted in its place, 
in order that they may give a color of authority to 
their theory of the annihilation at that crisis of the 
atmosphere, and the destruction thereby of all the 
human beings then dwelling on the globe ? They 
surely cannot have considered what their assumption 
involves. But the supposition of the atmosphere^s 
being endowed with such a repellent force, is equally 
fatal to their scheme ; as it would divest it of its 
power of producing a sensation of sound as it re- 
ceded from the earth : for as it would then fly off at 
every point, in a line perpendicular to the surface of 
the earth, as soon as it had risen above the heads of 
men — which would be as quick as thought — it would 
cease to act on their ears, and be incapable of pro- 
ducing a sense of the rushing noise which is io at- 
tend the movement that is predicted in this passage. 
Men, moreover, left in such a vacuum, and struggling 
on the one hand with the agonies of suHbcation, and 



294 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 

on the other with the still greater agonies of the ex- 
pansion of their bodies and the effusion of blood from 
every pore consequent on their being freed from the 
pressure of the atmosphere, would have little leisure 
for, or power of giving attention to the noise of the 
retreating atmosphere as it receded into remote 
space, on the supposition that its rush were per- 
ceptible by the ear. Had these writers carefully 
considered what their construction involves, they 
would have shrunk from ascribing to the passage 
such a tissue of impossibilities and absurdities. 

i^TOLxeia, are the elements or simple substances of 
which the world or its different parts consist. They 
have been supposed by some writers to denote those 
chiefly of the atmosphere, and the vapors and other 
material substances that ordinarily float in it. There 
is no ground, however, in the language for such a 
limitation ; and in v. 10 they undoubtedly denote the 
inflammable substances that are then to be ejected 
from the earth into the air. Neither the atmosphere 
in fact, nor the water that floats in it, in the form of 
vapor and clouds, is capable of fusion by heat. They 
are naturally fluids, not made such in distinction from 
solids, by the application of heat. The effect on 
them of a high measure of heat is simply to expand 
them into a greater volume ; to convert them into 
thinner fluids ; not to divest them of solidity, which 
does not belong to their nature. Melting is a process 
of which solids alone are susceptible. It is the min- 
eral substances of the globe, therefore, undoubtedly. 



THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 295 

that are to be ejected into the atmosphere at the 
- period, that are denoted by Groixeia, elementary sub- 
stances, V. 10, that are to be kindled and let loose. 
KavGovfieva, signifies being set on fire, kindled, put in a 
blaze. The elements that are thus to be enkindled 
are doubtless those that are naturally inflammable, 
such as carbon, sulphur, and gases of which they or 
other inflammable substances are ingredients. A.vdr]- 
Govrai is used in the sense of let loose, as the burning 
elements of a volcano are when projected into the at- 
mosphere, and driven by furious blasts, they become 
the means of assailing and destroying men. The 
verb literally denotes, to untie, to loosen, to unbind, 
to set free from a physical restraint, like a bond or 
fetter. It does not involve the idea at all, therefore, 
of the cessation or annihilation of that which is let 
loose. Instead, it implies that it continues in its 
state of release, and that if there has been any cessa- 
tion of existence, it is of the bond or force from which 
it is released. In like manner, a sense of annihila- 
tion, or ceasing to be, is not involved at all in its use 
when employed by a metaphor to denote a resem- 
bling release of persons or things from a condition 
like that of being tied or bound with a fetter ; as the 
loosing a slave from bondage, which is a political 
change ; the freeing the body from pain, which is a 
change of sensation ; and the release of a person 
from death. In all these metaphorical uses of the 
verb, the continued existence of that which is re- 
leased, and in its proper nature, is implied in its be- 



296 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 

ing set free. So also to loose a seal is to break its 
continuity simply, not to annihilate it, or produce a 
chemical dissolution of its parts ; and to dissolve, i. e. 
take down a building, is merely to remove its timbers, 
stones, and other elements, from that orderly arrange- 
ment and connexion with each other, by which it is 
constituted a building ; not to destroy the materials 
of which it consists, or change the form in which they 
severally exist. The stones are still stones, the tim- 
ber is still timber, and all the other elements remain 
precisely what they were before. The verb does not, 
therefore, in any form involve the sense of the anni- 
hilation or absolute destruction of that which is un- 
loosed; but, instead, necessarily implies its continu- 
ance. In this instance, it is used by a metaphor to sig- 
nify that the elements of the kindled earth are to be let 
loose from the force by which they are naturally held 
in a condition that is compatible with the safety and 
enjoyment of men ; and like the fluid matter of a 
volcano projected into the atmosphere, are at liberty 
to rush upon them and become the engines of their 
destruction. It does not involve, nor admit of the 
notion of their chemical dissolution and annihilation, 
any more than the loosing of the ox or ass from the 
stall to lead it to w^atering, Luke xiii. 15, or the loos- 
ing of the colt bound at the gate, Mark xi. 4, implied 
the chemical dissolution and annihilation of those 
animals. Its meaning in each case is simply that of 
letting loose ; though the restraint from which the 
elements are set free is of a 'different kind from that 



THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 297 

from which the animals were released by untjdng or 
removing their fastenings. 

" And the earth and the works on it KaraKameTac shall 
be burned.'^ The earth and the works on it are not 
the same as the kindled elements which are to be let 
loose, but are combustible things on the surface of 
the earth, such as crops, grass, trees, and structures 
erected by men, on which those burning elements, 
projected into the atmosphere and borne off by the 
winds, will fall, and kindle, and burn them. To sup- 
.pose that the burning elements, and the natural and 
artificial objects on the earth are the same, would be 
to treat the passage as tautological. If the elements, 
and the earth, and the works on it, are the same, and 
the prediction that the kindled elements shall be let 
loose, means, as the common construction represents, 
that they shall be dissolved and reduced to a chaos, 
or annihilated, why is it added that the earth and the 
works on it shall be burned? It would imply that 
the earth and the works on it are to continue to be 
the earth and the works on it, and therefore to con- 
tinue to subsist in their natural state, after they have 
undergone a total dissolution and passed out of exist- 
ence. Instead of such a contradictory sense, the re- 
presentation of the passage is, that the burning of 
the earth and the works on it is to be consequential 
on the letting loose of the kindled elements. The 
combustible matter with which the surface of the 
earth is to be covered — grass, crops, trees, buildings 

— is to be set on fire by the kindled elements projected 

13^ 



298 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE AKXIHILATED. 

into the atmosphere, and burned, as usually takes 
place in volcanic eruptions. 

TovTov ovv TzdvTov ivouevcov; " As then all thesc are (to he) 
unloosed [to become instruments of destruction], 
what manner of persons ought j^e to be?'^ All these, 
means not only the kindled elements and the atmos- 
phere, but the burning substances also on the surface 
of the earth, which the elements falling from the at- 
mosphere are to kindle. 

liora-novg del vnapxetv v/ndg ; ev aylaig uvaarpocpalg koI evaepecaLg 

TrpoadoKovrag adi oirevdovrag. The distinction between holy 
deportment and piety, is, that the one has a special 
reference to men, the other to God. UpoGdoKCjvrag koi 

(jnevdovrac, aS WcU aS v/J-ag, are governed by dei VTrapxecv ; 

and the sense of the passage is ; — all these then — the 
kindled elements, the atmosphere, and the burning 
substances on the surface of the earth — being thus 
to be unloosed from their natural state to become in- 
struments of destruction to the imj)ious ; how holy 
ought your deportment to be towards men, and your 
hearts towards God, that you may not be among those 
who are then to perish ; and how ought you to live 
in the expectation of the coming of that day, and re- 
alization that the kindled atmosphere is then to be 
let loose, and the burning elements of the earth to 
melt, and carry terror and death to those who are ar- 
rayed against God. The certainty that these resist- 
less instruments of death are to be^let loose for the 
destruction of the impious, is thus made the ground 
by the apostle of enforcing the duty on the one hand 



THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 299 

of a life of uprightness towards men, and piety to- 
wards God, and on the other of an habitnal looking 
for and earnest contemplation of the day of God, as 
to be marked by those awful evolutions of the powers 
of nature, and employment for the destruction of the 
impious who are then to perish. 

" New heavens, however, and a new earth, we, ac- 
cording to his promise, look for, in which righteous- 
ness dwells," and which therefore, the implication is, 
are never to be made engines of destruction, as men 
are never again to become impious. 

Such is indubitably the philological meaning of 
this passage ; the simple, full, and only sense it will 
bear. Not a hue of the pencil, in the explication 
we have given of it, is either raised above, or de- 
pressed below the color of the original. And not a 
trace appears in it of the universal conflagration, dis- 
solution, and annihilation of the earth and atmosphere, 
which commentators generally have supposed it to 
foreshow. The notion of such a catastrophe has no 
just foundation in the passage, and has sprung entirely 
from a misconception of the import of the terms, a 
consequent misjudgment of the phenomena which 
they describe, and a neglect to consider the incom- 
patibility of a general conflagration and dissolution 
of all things with the descriptions that are given in 
other parts of the sacred word, of the same event. 



300 THE GLOBE IS XOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 



CHAPTER XXIY. 

THE EARTH NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED BY A CONFLAGRATION. 

The trutti of the exposition given in the preceding 
chapter of the prophecy, 2 Peter iii. 3-13, is made 
still more apparent by a consideration of the nature 
and grounds of the construction that is ordinarily put 
on it. By most it is regarded as wholly incompatible 
with the survivance of any portion of mankind in the 
natural life ; and by others as at least rendering the 
supposition of their survivance extremely difficult. 
It results, however, from their forming conceptions 
of the catastrophe, and of the class of persons whom 
it is to destroy, which the language does not warrant. 

Thus, one class of commentators interpret the term 
" heavens,'^ as denoting the celestial orbs, the moon, 
planets, sun, and stars, and regard the prophecy as 
announcing the conflagration of the whole material 
universe. No fancy, however, could be more mista- 
ken or absurd. The object of the fire is to destroy 
'^ the impious.'' It is to the judgment and destruc- 
tion of the men who are ungodly, that the heavens 



THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 301 

and earth are reserved for fire. But how would the 
conflagration of tlie sun, the moon, and the planets, 
be necessary to that destruction, or in any manner 
contribute to it? And much more, how would the 
conflagration of all the other systems of worlds that 
fill the boundless realms of space, that have no phy- 
sical connection whatever with our system, be need- 
ful to that end? Do those persons suppose the un- 
godly men who are then to perish, are to be destroyed 
by the flames of the distant parts of the universe ? 
If not, if they are to be destroyed by the fires of the 
earth, what need can there be of a more extensive 
conflagration ? But the word ol ovpavot, the heavens, 
instead of the sun, moon, planets, and the starry 
spheres, denotes simply the atmosphere of the earth ; 
the region of the air above us, in which " the fowls 
of heaven'^ fly, and " the clouds of heaven^^ float. This 
is clear, not only from the subject itself of the passage, 
but especially from the prediction that ol ovpavol, the 
heavens, shall pass away, or rush with a crash, or 
loud noise ; which shows that the rush or rapid mo- 
tion producing the crashing noise, is to be within the 
limits of our atmosphere, inasmuch as it is only with- 
in the region of the air that the motion of objects 
can produce a sound. To suppose that a rush of Ju- 
piter, Saturn, and Herschel, from their orbits into 
space, would produce a crash which would bo heard 
in our world, is to assume that the whole region 
through which the sound would pass, is filled by an 
element susceptible of vibration, like our atmosphere, 



302 THE GLOBE IS KOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 

wliich is contrary to fact. No such element exists 
in the space that surrounds our atmosphere, which, 
as far as has been determined by astronomers, ex- 
tends only to a height of forty-five or fifty miles. 
Beyond that limit, as at the distance of the moon and 
planets, a body could no more produce a crashing vi- 
bration in our atmosphere by dashing through space, 
than it could by remaining stationary. The catas- 
trophe, then, which the prophecy foreshows is un- 
questionably to be confined to our world. 

Others regard the passage as foreshowing that the 
earth at least is to be completely consumed, or reduced 
to cinders, and perhaps struck from existence. They 
derive that impression probably from the expression 
in the common version, that ^' the earth also, and the 
works that are therein, shall be burned up.'' As a 
house, or other wooden structure, a forest, a field of 
grain, or any combustible matter, is said to be burned 
up when it is completely fired, divested of organiza- 
tion, and reduced to ashes, these persons suppose 
that the language implies that the whole earth is in 
like manner to be consumed by the fire, divested of 
all its organized structure, and converted, at least, 
into a mass of ruins, if not swept from existence. 
But this, the original does not warrant. All that the 
verb means is that the earth — that is, the combustible 
things on its surface, in the scene where the catas- 
trophe occurs, shall be set on fire and shall burn, as 
for example, in a volcanic explosion, when the burn- 
ing lava fires and consumes the inflammable objects, 



THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. S03 

immediately around, with which it comes in contact. 
In like manner, w^hen a violent upheaval and agita- 
tion of the surface of the earth in a particular district 
is produced by interior fires, the earthy without limita- 
tion, is said to shake and quake, although the move- 
ment is confined to a narrow region and to its mere 
surface. So also the earth is said to be wrapped in 
darkness at night, although the darkness is confined 
to one hemisphere, while the other is basking in the 
full light of day. And it is predicted that at the de- 
struction of the antichristian hosts, ^^the mountains 
shall be melted with their blood,^^ Isaiah xxiv. 3 ; 
though those mountains only are meant which are to 
be the scene of their slaughter, and not all the moun- 
tains of the globe. That all that this language means 
is, that the inflammable matter on the surface of the 
earth will be set on fire and will burn, in the regions 
where the destruction of the ungodly is to take place, 
is shown still more clearly by the fact, hereafter to 
be adduced, that even the wicked themselves, who 
are to be destroyed by the flames, are not to be ab- 
solutely consumed, but are to remain in such a condi- 
tion as to be devoured by the birds of the air, and to 
require a burial. 

Others seem to suppose that the conflagration in 
the atmosphere is to be universal, and is to take 
place at the same time over the whole surface of the 
globe ; and that the survivance of any of its pojnila- 
tion must therefore be impossible. Tliis notion, 
however, has no ground whatever in the passage. 



304 THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 

The prediction is simply that the atmosphere shall 
be kindled, and shall be let loose, and shall rush with 
a great noise. It is not said that the whole atmos- 
phere of the globe is to be kindled and rush in that 
manner. The prophecy will be accomplished, if that 
takes place in the scene where the impious, who are 
to perish, are assembled. As the atmosphere is not 
combustible, and cannot be separated into its con- 
stitutents and made inflammable, except by the ap- 
plication of heat, or some other chemical force sepa- 
rate from itself, it is apparent that the firing of the 
air, or filling the air with fire, must be produced— 
if wrought as it doubtless will be, by natural means 
— by the infusion into it of some combustible ele- 
ment, such as an inflammable gas, carbon, or sulphur. 
The fire by which that combustible element is to be 
inflamed and ejected into the air, is probably to be 
that which is to issue from the throne of God, Dan. 
vii. 9, 10 ; the flaming fire in which he is to be re- 
vealed when he comes to take vengeance on his ene- 
mies, Isaiah Ixvi. 15, 16 ; 2 Thess. i. 7, 8. If then 
the inflammable element is to be introduced into the 
atmosphere at the time — unless created at the mo- 
ment, which will not be deemed likely, inasmuch as 
ample stores of combustibles exist in the earth itself 
■ — what is so probable as that it will be disengaged 
from the earth at the time, by the earthquakes which 
are then to convulse the globe, Zech. xiv. 4, 5 ; Joel 
iii. 16, and the firing of the interior by the lightnings 
flashed from the divine presence, by which those 



THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 305 

earthquakes are to be generated and the mountains 
made to melt ; which, it is predicted, Ps. xcvii, are 
to take place at his coming to reign on the earth ? 
"A fire goeth before him and burneth up his ene- 
mies round about. His lightnings enlightened the 
world ; the earth saw and trembled. The hills melt- 
ed like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the pre- 
sence of the Lord of the whole earth. '^ But if that 
is to be the source of the inflammable materials with 
which the atmosphere is to be kindled, and the fusion 
of the earthy matter on which the volcanic fires act, 
is to be the melting of the elements which the pre- 
diction foreshows, it is not to be supposed that it is 
to extend at once through the whole mass of the at- 
mosphere around the whole globe. It will naturally, 
and .without a miracle necessarily, be confined to the 
regions immediately round the scenes of the earth- 
quakes and volcanic fires, and thence to the portions 
of the atmosphere over the regions in which the un- 
godly men are assembled, whom its office is to de- 
stroy. And such a firing of the earth, and conflagra- 
tion of the air, in those regions in which great num- 
bers of the antichristian party live and are to be 
assembled, will fully equal the import of the predic- 
tion, and form an ample verification of it. This view 
will be rendered still more indubitable by considera- 
tions hereafter to be adduced. 

If it is held that the conflagration, instead of being 
produced by natural means, is to be the Avork exclu- 
sively of a miracle, then no explanation of the exemp- 



306 THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 

tion of the nations who are living on the earth is ne- 
cessary ; inasmuch as if the conflagration is altogether 
miraculous, the exemption of the nations is just as 
consistent with the miracle as their destruction would 
be. The whole supposition that the living popula- 
tion of the globe are to perish by the conflagration, 
proceeds on the assumption that the fire is to act ac- 
cording to the laws of nature. If therefore the laws 
of nature have no place in it, but it is to be the mere 
work of the divine volition, the preservation of the 
nations is just as consistent with it as their destruc- 
tion can be. To maintain, accordingly, that the 
burning of the atmosphere must naturally destroy 
the inhabitants of the earth, is to maintain that the 
fire is to act according to the natural and invariable 
laws of that element ; and that implies that it is to 
be produced by natural means ; that is, by the in- 
flammation of naturally combustible matter. That, 
however, as necessarily implies that those means are 
to be drawn from the earth itself, in which inflamma- 
ble matter exists in ample quantity : for why should 
it be supposed that God will create combustible ele- 
ments to fire the earth, when such elements already 
exist in the earth itself, and only need the application 
of fire to kindle and explode them into the atmos- 
phere ? But the supposition that they are to be 
drawn from the earth itself, implies that they are to 
be developed and emitted into the atmosphere only 
in certain regions and in limited quantities ; for that 
results necessarily from the partial distribution of 



THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 307 

those elements, and their agency as far as it has hith- 
erto been exemplified ; and thence it follows that the 
conflagration, instead of being universal at the same 
momentj is to be confined to limited regions ; and as 
will hereafter appear, is to take place in those regions 
successively. 

Others assume that none of the unsanctified are to 
escape that conflagration, from the fact that it is de- 
signed to destroy " the men that are impious.'' That 
term, however, tdv aaepcjv, the impious, is used, there 
is the most ample certainty, not to designate the un- 
sanctified generally and promiscuously, but only the 
open, organized, and peculiarly guilty enemies of 
Christ, who are directly opposing his kingdom, or at 
least giving their sympathy and concurrence to its 
opposers. For they are in several prophecies ex- 
pressly designated as the parties who are to be de- 
stroyed by fire at Christ's coming. Thus the ten- 
horned beast, that is to be slain at the judgment at 
which the Ancient of days is to preside, is the sym- 
bol of the kings and subordinate rulers of the fourth 
great monarchy ; and it is they only whose destruc- 
tion is symbolized by its death, and the giving of its 
body to the burning flame. That the subjects of that 
empire are promiscuously to perish along Avitli the 
rulers denoted by the beast, not a hint is given in 
the vision ; nor is the supposition compatible with 
the revelation which it makes of the catastrophe of 
the monarchs, the false prophet symbolized by the 
eleventh horn, and their subordinates in the i2:overn- 



308 THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 

ments of wliicli tliey are the heads. If the people 
are to perish along with the governments, how is 
it that they appear as symbols in the vision which 
immediately follows of the investiture of Christ wilh 
the dominion of the earth, and it is announced that 
they, who are most certainly included in '' all peopl'e, 
nations, and languages," are to "serve him,'^ and 
throughout his reign which is to continue for ever 
and ever ? 

In like manner at the great battle of Armageddon, 
it is the ten-horned beast, and the false prophet or 
head of the papacy alone, that are to be cast alive 
into the lake of fire and brimstone ; and the kings 
and armies that are to be associated with them alone 
that are to be slain. No intimation is given- that the 
population of the realms over which those monarchs 
and priests reign, are to perish along with them. So 
also in the vision of the great image, Dan. ii, as it is 
the image alone that is dashed to powder by the stone 
cut out of the mountain, and blown away by the wind 
like chaff from the threshers, so it is the chief rulers 
and their subordinates alone who belong to the or- 
ganized bodies that exercise the governments and 
are symbolized by the image, whose destruction is 
foreshown by the crushing of the image. In the 
prediction of the same great event also, Isaiah Ixvi. 
15-24, while it is foreshown that the Lord will plead 
w^ith all flesh, and that the slain of the Lord shall be 
many, and that those especially are to perish who are 
open idolaters ; it is yet announced that he will ga- 



THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 309 

ther all nations and tongues, and they shall come and 
see his glory, and he will set a sign among them, and 
those of them that escape, he will send to the nations 
at a distance that have not heard his fame nor seen 
his glory, and that they shall assist the return of the 
Israelites to their land, and shall afterwards come 
there to offer worship, — which indicates that the de- 
struction is to be confined to the open and incorrigi- 
ble enemies of Christ. The nations at large are to 
survive. In like manner the prediction of the great 
battle at Jerusalem, Zech. xiv, exhibits the destruc- 
tion which is then to take place, as confined to the 
armies that are arrayed against that city, and endea- 
voring to prevent the establishment there of Christ's 
throne. For those alone who are to parish are '' the 
people that have fought against Jerusalem. '^ The 
remainder of the nations to whom those '' people'^ be- 
longed, are expressly represented as surviving and 
going up ^' from year to year'' to Jerusalem '^ to wor- 
ship the king, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the 
feast of tabernacles." What can more clearly show 
that the destruction is to be limited to the armed 
hosts that are to be engaged in open war against 
Christ? 

But that the phrase " the ungodly men," " the men 
that are impious," against whose judgment and per- 
dition the burning of the atmosphere and earth is re- 
served, denotes the open, organized, and incorrigible 
enemies of Christ and his kingdom, who are engaged 
in an attempt to defeat him, and prevent the verifi- 



310 THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 

cation of his word, is seen from the passage 2 Thess. 
i. 8, 9, and the parallel prediction, 2 Peter iii. 4. 
For those then to perish who are described v. 8, 
as not knowing God, and not obeying the gospel 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, are to be of the same 
class, it is indicated, as those v. 6, who had perse- 
cuted the Thessalonian believers. " Your patience 
and faith in all j^our persecutions and tribulations 
that ye endure," are " a manifest token of the right- 
eous judgment of God in counting you worthy of the 
kingdom of God for which ye suffer : since it is 
righteous with God to recompense tribulation to 
those who trouble you" by persecution ; '^ and to you 
who are afflicted, rest with us at the revelation of the 
Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power, 
in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know 
not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ." As the patience and faith of the believers 
under persecution are to be the reason of their ac- 
ceptance and reward when Christ comes in flaming 
fire, so, the representation is, the disowning of God, 
and rejection of the gospel, manifested in the persecu- 
tion of the saints^ are to be the reason of the destruc- 
tion of those who are to perish by the fire. For it 
is the persecutors roig dlifSovGiv vfiag, those who afflict 
you, it is expressly said, whom God is then to repay 
by affliction. 

That the terms, ^' the men that are impious," against 
whose judgment and dirDlelag, perdition, the firing of 
the air and earth is reserved, are thus used to desig- 



THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 311 

nate the openly apostate and persecuting enemies of 
Christ's kingdom, not the unrenewed promiscuously, 
is confirmed also by the denomination in the next 
chapter, 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4, of the great combination of 
false and persecuting teachers of the Catholic church, 
'Hhe man of sin,'' the son of dTTolelag perdition, and the 
antagonist and rival of all that is called God or enti- 
tled to homage ; and the announcement that it is the 
party which he represents, who are to be consumed 
by the breath of Christ's mouth, and destroyed by the 
effulgence, that is the flaming fire of his advent. 
They are further described as a body in whom the 
inworking of Satan appears with all power and signs 
and lying miracles, and all the deceit or falsehood of 
unrighteousness. They are to be persons, therefore, 
who profess to act with divine authority, and to work 
miracles in proof of their commission and the truth 
of their doctrines ; but w^hose miracles are to be false, 
and their show of piety a mere deceit or counterfeit 
by unrighteousness. They are to be false religious 
teachers, therefore, counterfeit disciples and ministers 
of Christ, who usurp his name, authority, and throne. 
As these are the class denominated the man of sin 
and son of perdition, who are then to perish by the 
fire of Christ's presence, and as no intimation is given 
that any others living in the same scenes are to be 
involved in that catastrophe, it indicates that Peter's 
phrase, " the ungodly men," " the men that are impi- 
ous," who are to perish at the same juncture, is used 



312 THE GLOBE IS KOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 

also to denote only the same class of open and organ- 
ized enemies to Christ^s kingdom. 

This is corroborated also by the parable of the field 
sown with good seed, in which the owner symbolizes 
Christ, and the wheat and tares those who professedly 
live under his rule ; the wheat representing the true 
believers whom Christ introduces into his kingdom, 
but the tares denoting the wicked, whom Satan intro- 
duces among Christ's true disciples, by leading them 
to profess his name, and assume the badge of his fol- 
lowers ; and it is these alone who are to be gathered 
by the angels out of his kingdom at his coming, and 
consigned to the furnace of fire. These may include 
some, not improbably, who are not open apostates and 
persecutors ; but it indicates that the destruction is 
to be confined to the special- agents and vassals of 
Satan, whose aim and office is to pervert and destroy 
the kingdom of the Redeemer. 

In like manner those, in the judgment of the living, 
foreshown Matt. xxv. 31-46, who are to be placed at 
the left hand of the judge, and co«isigned to everlast- 
ing punishment, are exhibited as consisting solely of 
those w^ho have acted in a direct relation to Christ's 
true people in the great persecution which is imme- 
diately to precede his coming, and as having either 
taken an open part with the persecutors, or shown a 
concurrence with them by refusing all succor to the 
persecuted in their sufferings. The representation 
assumes that they were all in a condition, if they had 
had a disposition to it, to have relieved the sufferers, 



THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 313 

not only by giving food, clothing, shelter, and medi- 
cine, to those who were at large and might be ap- 
proached without obstruction, but to those also who 
were confined in prison ; and that they took the side 
therefore, and in their sphere acted the part of per- 
secutors, as really as those in official stations by whom 
the persecution was originated and carried on. They 
are probably difierent persons from those who are to 
perish at Armageddon ; but are of the same general 
class, the open and merciless enemies of Christ^s true 
people. 

These various descriptions of the parties who are 
then to be destroyed, all of which exhibit them as 
open, organized apostates, and relentless enemies of 
God, not the unsanctified generally, make it clear that 
it is the antichristian, idolatrous, and persecuting 
host alone, that is then to perish by the fires of the 
divine vengeance, not the unrenewed nations gener- 
ally of the earth. 



14 



314 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED AT CHRIST^S COMING. 

In addition to the considerations alleged in the pre- 
ceding chapter, it is apparent that the fire that is to 
destroy " the impions men'^is not to consume the whole 
earth and reduce it to a wreck, from the fact that it is 
not even to burn up the bodies of the an ti christian host 
generally that is to perish at that crisis, but they are to 
remain unconsumed, to be devoured by the birds of the 
air, and in many instances to require burial. Thus 
at the great battle of God at Armageddon, where the 
armies of the kings who are to co-operate with the 
wild beast are to be slain by the sword, or breath 
proceeding from the mouth of Christ, the fowls of 
heaven are summoned to gather themselves together 
to the supper of the great God, that they may eat 
" the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the 
flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of 
them that sit on them, and the flesh of all, both free 
and bond, both small and great.'^ " And the beast 
and the false prophet that w^rought miracles before 



THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 315 

it, were taken and cast alive into the lake of fire burn- 
ing with brimstone ; the remnant were slain with the 
sword of him that sat upon the horse, which proceeded 
out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with 
their flesh," Rev. xix. 17-21 ; which indicates that they 
• were merely killed by the flaming breath of the Re- 
deemer, not devoured by it, nor by any conflagration 
of the atmosphere or earth that was kindled by it, or 
by any other cause. For why should the fowls have 
been invited to sup on them, if they were v/rapped 
in a devouring fire and consumed by it ? And how, 
if they were dispatched in that way, could all the 
fowls, or any of them, have been filled by their flesh ? 
In like manner Gog, who is to invade the land of 
Israel, after the Israelites have returned and resettled 
there, and whom God is to destroy by raining upon 
him and upon his bands, and upon the many people 
that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hail- 
stones, fire, and brimstone, is to be given unto the 
ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the 
field to be devoured ; and their bows and arrows are 
to remain and serve as fuel for the Israelites for seven 
years, and their bones are to lie on the surface, and 
in such numbers and scattered over so wide a region, 
as to require seven months to comj)lete their burial, 
Ezek. xxxviii, xxxix. Can a stronger proof bo im- 
agined, that though they are in a measure to be killed 
by the fire and brimstone showered on them, tliov \ et 
are not to be burned and reduced to ashes by it, or 
by a general conflagration ? If they are to perisli by 



316 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE AXXIHILATED. 

a general conflagration, how could their bodies remain 
to be devoured by ravenous birds and wild beasts ? 
Hovr, if the whole atmosphere is then inflamed and 
annihilated, and the whole earth fused and consumed 
by the heat, can the birds and beasts survive to feed 
on their carcases ? Or how could their bows, arrows, 
spears, and other combustible armor, escape the burn- 
ing, and serve for fuel to the Israelites ? How indeed 
could the Israelites themselves any more escape de- 
struction by such a universal fire ? Can anything be 
more clear, than that the whole fancy of such an all- 
devouring conflagration is without authority, and 
irreconcilable with the predictions of the catastrophe 
by which '' the impious" are to perish at that crisis ? 
Or can any clearer indication be necessary, than is 
presented in this prophecy, that the fire and brim- 
stone that are to be rained upon Gog and his armies, 
though kindled probably by the lightnings flashed 
from the throne of the Almighty, are yet to proceed 
from the volcanoes with which Palestine is then to 
be fired and convulsed ? For the great earthquake 
with which it is predicted the land of Israel is then 
to be shaken, is doubtless to proceed from the explo- 
sion of combustible matter beneath the surface, that 
is to vent itself by the projection of its burning gases 
and heated minerals into the atmosphere, and pro- 
duce the conflagration of the air and fusion of the 
elements, which it is foreshown by Peter are to take 
place " in that day'^ '' of the Lord.'' " For in my jeal- 
ousy, and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken ; 



THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 317 

Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in 
the land of Israel ; so that the fishes of the sea, and 
the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, 
and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, 
and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, 
shall shake at my presence ; and the mountains shall 
be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and 
every wall shall fall to the ground," Ezek. xxxviii. 19, 
20. A great earthquake is to take place, therefore, 
at the time of the rain of the fire and brimstone on 
Gog and his hosts ; and as such violent convulsions 
of the earth usually, and probably in all instances, 
issue in volcanic eruptions, in which sulphur is a lead- 
ing element, what is so probable as that the fire and 
brimstone with which the invading hosts are to be 
overwhelmed, are to be projected from the kindled 
earth into the atmosphere, and by emitting a vast 
volume of inflammable gas along with them, fill the 
heavens to a great height with flame, and in the rush- 
ing whirlwinds and crashing noise which usually at- 
tend the explosions of great volcanoes, verify the pre- 
diction that the heavens or atmosphere shall rush with 
a loud roar, or thundering noise ? The phenomena 
described by the apostle are precisely such as attend 
the eruption of the great volcano, Kilauea Hawaii, as de- 
scribed in passages quoted in the Tlieol. and Lit. Jour- 
nal, vol. V. pp. 189, 199, and 3G9, from which we tran- 
scribe the following sentences. " The stream plunged 
into the sea with loud detonations. The burning 
lava, on meeting the waters, was shivered like melted 



318 THE EARTH IS KOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 

glass into millions of particles which were thrown up 
in clouds that darkened the sky, and fell like a storm 
of hail over the surrounding country. Vast columns 
of steam and vapors rolled off before the wind, whirl- 
ing in ceaseless agitation, and the reflected glare of 
the lavas formed a fiery firmament overhead. '^ — 
Dana's Geol. U. S. Expl. Expedition, pp. 188-192. 

" The intense heat of the fountain and stream of 
lava caused an influx of cool air from every quarter. 
This created terrific wliirlioinds^ which constantly 
stalking about, like so many sentinels, bade defiance 
to [threatened] the daring visitor. These were 
the most dangerous of anything about the volcano. 
Clouds approaching the volcano were driven back, 
and set moving in wild confusion. '^ — Letter of H. 
Kinney, Am. Jour, of Science, Sept. 1852, p. 258. 

As, then, volcanic phenomena — the filling the sky 
with flames, the whirlwind rush of the air, a loud roar 
and crash, and the fusion of the earthy elements pro- 
jected from the crater, and decomposition of the water 
and air with which they come in contact — thus accord 
with those described by the apostle as to attend the 
judgment and destruction of "the impious men f 
why should it not be held as clear that the firing of 
the air and earth, and melting of the elements, which 
he foreshows, are to be of the same kind, and proceed 
from the same cause ? The language he employs is 
not stronger, the effects he describes are not of a 
more intense nature, than those depicted in these 
passages. 



THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 319 

It is predicted also, Isaiah Ixvi. 24, that there are 
to be carcases of men, who are to be slain at that 
epoch, that not only are not to be consumed by the 
fire, bnt are to remain visible at least for a time, and 
it would seem from the description, in a volcanic lo- 
cality ; and are to be gazed at by survivors. " And 
it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to an- 
other, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh 
come to worship before me, saith the Lord ; and they 
shall go forth and look upon the carcases of the men 
that have transgressed against me ; for their worm 
shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched ; 
and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. ^' 

This view of the catastrophe is corroborated by 
the description given by Zechariah of the mode in 
which the antichristian hosts are then to be destroy- 
ed. " And this shall be the plague wherewith the 
Lord will smite all the people that have fought 
against Jerusalem. Their flesh shall consume away 
while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall 
consume away in their sockets, and their tongue shall 
consume away in their mouth. '^ "And so shall be 
the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, 
and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in 
their tents, as this plague." — Chap. xiv. 12, 15. 

This is not the efi'ect that would naturally be pro- 
duced, if they were absolutely enveloped in a devour- 
ing fire, as they then could not remain on their feet, 
nor would one part of their bodies be more exposed 
to injury than another ; but it is precisely llie elVect 



320 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 

that would be produced by a volcanic eruption, send- 
ing up vast volumes of melted lava and burning 
gases into the heights of the atmosphere, that 
should reflect an intense heat and glare on the eyes, 
and generate hot gusts and whirlwinds loaded with 
heated particles that should rush in all directions, and 
filling the eyes, mouths, and clothes of the hosts 
every few moments, excite inflammation, and soon 
destroy the parts most exposed, while the sufi'erers 
would still be able to remain on their feet. 

It is corroborated also by the prediction, that in- 
stead of being instantly destroyed by the fire, they 
are to be thrown into a tumult, and in their confusion 
and terror are to fall on each other. '^ And it shall 
come to pass in that day, a great tumult from the 
Lord shall be among them ; and they shall lay hold 
every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand 
shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor,'^ Zech. 
xiv. 13. This might naturally arise from a volcanic 
eruption, that, threatening them with destruction, 
should prompt them to fly in haste and disarray, and, 
blinding them with ashes and smoke, should 23Tevent 
them from distinguishing each other. In such a 
flight they would naturally run against each other, 
and not improbably mistake one another for foes, 
and each endeavor to effect his escape by sacrificing 
whoever stood in his way. But no sucli tumult and 
conflict could occur were they instantly enveloped in 
an atmosphere of devouring fire. Flight would then 
be impossible. Each would instantly sink overpow- 



THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 321 

ered by his sufferings, and have neither motive nor 
strength to contend with his neighbor. "Who ever 
heard of persons enveloped in the flames of a burn- 
ing building fighting with each other, or can conceive 
it possible ? 

This accords also with the prediction, Psalm xi. 6. 
" The wicked,'^ the impious, are defined, v. 2, as those 
who plot the destruction of the righteous. ^' For lo, 
the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their 
arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot 
at the upright in heart.'' '^ The Lord is in his holy 
temple ; the Lord's throne is in heaven ; his eyes 
behold, his eyelids try the children of men. The 
Lord trieth the righteous ; but the wicked, and him 
that loveth violence, his soul hateth." And these he 
is to destroy by a storm like those which are often 
generated by volcanic eruptions. '' Upon the wicked 
he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horri- 
ble tempest: the portion of their cup." 

These considerations make it clear that the catas- 
trophe which the apostle foreshows, instead of a 
universal conflagration of the atmosphere and the 
earth, that is to blot them from existence, or reduce 
them to a mass of ruins, is to be but a local and par- 
tial firing of the earth and air, that is to be the 
means of terror, confusion, and death to the impious 
hosts and their co-operators who are arrayed in open 
war against Christ ; not of destroying the nations of 
the earth at large. 

And finally, this is confirmed by the events that 
14^ 



322 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE AXXIHILATED. 

are to intervene between the coming of Christ in the 
clouds, and the completion of the judgment of the 
living nations, which show not only that no general 
conflagration of the world is to take place on his ar- 
rival, but that the destruction of the impious, who 
are to perish by his avenging fires, instead of being 
accomplished in a single catastrophe, is to take place 
successively, and in different scenes. There are 
many who seem to suppose that the world will be 
set on fire and the wicked universally destroyed, im- 
mediately on Christ^s arrival. But that notion is 
both wholly unfounded, and inconsistent with many 
events that are ix) attend and follow his advent. 

Thus it is apparent that his advjent itself, or first 
appearance, cannot be beheld by all the inhabitants 
of the globe at the same time ; since whatever the 
direction may be in which he approaches it, he can 
only be visible at the same moment to the people of 
one hemisphere, and if perceptible at a great distance, 
cannot, unless he passes round the earth, or there is 
an acceleration of its rotation on its axis, under 
twelve hours after, be seen by all the residents in 
the other hemisphere ; while if he is not visible till 
he reaches the atmosphere, and the region of clouds, 
he will be seen at the same time by the population 
of only a narrow region. 

But his avenging lightnings are not to be darted 
on his enemies and kindle the earth and atmosphere, 
even at the great battle with his armed foes, the in- 
stant of his becoming visible. His foes, instead of 



THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 323 

being immediately enveloped in fire and devoured, 
are to flee to the mountains and crags, and endeavor 
to hide themselves from his wrath. ^' And the kings 
of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, 
and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every 
bondman and every freeman, hid themselves in the 
dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to 
the mountains and rocks. Fall on us, and hide us from 
the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from 
the wrath of the Lamb ; for the great day of his wrath 
has come, and who shall be able to stand. ^' Eev. vi. 
15-17. The same terror, flight, and attempt to secrete 
themselves are predicted by Isaiah ii. 10—21. '^ Enter 
into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of 
the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty 
looks of men shall be humbled, and the haughtiness 
of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall 
be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of 
hosts shall be upon every one that is j^^^oud and lofty ^ 
and upon evet-y one that is lifted up ; and he shall be 
brought low ; and upon all the cedars of Lebanon 
high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan ; 
and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the 
hills that are lifted up, and upon every high tower, 
and upon every fenced w^all, and upon all the ships 
of Tarshish, and upon all the pleasant pictures. And 
the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the 
hauglitiness of men shall be made low ; and the Lord 
alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols 
shall be utterly abolished. And they shall go into 



324 THE EAETH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 

the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, 
for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, 
when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that 
day shall a man cast his idols of silver and his idols 
of gold, which they made each one for himself to wor- 
ship, to the moles and to the bats, to go into the 
clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged 
rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his 
majest}^, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.'' 
This indicates that the vengeance of God is then to 
be especially directed against the limiglity and daring 
in sin, and that a terrible earthquake is to be one 
means by which it is to be executed ; but it shows 
that the guilty are not to be instantaneously de- 
stroyed, but are to have opportunity to flee to the 
mountains, and hide themselves in dens and caverns. 
The event foreshown in these passages is doubtless the 
battle of Armageddon, Vvdien the usurping and perse- 
cuting powers denoted by the wild beast, the false 
prophet, and their armies, are to be destroyed. A 
still longer period is to intervene between Christ's 
advent, and the judgment of the living nations, de- 
scribed Matt. XXV. 31-46 ; for they are to be gathered 
together after his coming,^ and not, as is generally 
supposed, at the same time and place, but there is 
every reason to presume successively. It is after he 
has come in the clouds of heaven, he himself announces, 
Matt. xxiv. 31, that he shall send his angels with a 
great sound of a trumpet to gather together his elect 
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the 



THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 325 

other ; and it is still later, it is indicated in the vision 
of the vintage, Rev. xiv. 17-20, that the wicked are 
to be gathered and destroyed ; and probably neither 
of these classes is to be assembled at one time and in 
one place. The language does not imply it. The 
representation will be perfectly verified by the assem- 
bling of the nations before him, though it be in differ- 
ent scenes and successively. And why should the 
population of Europe, Africa, America, and the Paci- 
fic and Indian isles, be transported to Asia to be 
judged ? — a process that unless accomplished by a 
miracle, would occupy many years, more indeed far 
than an ordinary lifetime even of the aged, and de- 
mand extraordinary provisions for the subsistence 
and shelter of those collected at the scene, while the 
gathering was in progress. Such a voyage and march 
of nine hundred millions of human beings to a single 
point on the globe, would involve, in truth, an array 
of miracles, compared with which all that have hith- 
erto been wrought in the government of the world 
would sink into insignificance ; and is not to be 
thought of. The judgment of the nations will doubt- 
less take place in their several territories, and in 
succession. A considerable period therefore, and not 
impossibly years, may pass ere it is completed. The 
supposition, accordingly, that the earth and atmos- 
phere are to be fired throughout and utterly con- 
sumed as the process proceeds, is contradictious and 
absurd. 

It is equally inconsistent with the resurrection of 



326 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 

the unholy from the grave and the sea at the distance 
of the vast series of ages denoted by the thousand 
years after Christ's advent, and the resurrection of 
the righteous, and the destruction of the antichristian 
hosts. It is expressly revealed in the vision of the 
resurrection of the holy dead at the commencement 
of the thousand years, that '' the rest of the dead are 
not to live again until the thousand years are finish- 
ed f and there is immediately after a vision of their 
resurrection from the sea, the grave, and the realms 
of the unburied, and their judgment soon after the 
close of the thousand years. But their resurrection 
at that late period, after Christ's coming and destruc- 
tion of the impious hosts, symbolized by the beast, 
Babylon, the false prophet, and their confederates, 
shows that the earth and air cannot in the mean time 
have been reduced to a mass of ruins by a conflagra- 
tion, and the sea evaporated or struck from existence ; 
as then, to make it possible, it would be necessary 
that the earth and sea should be restored from their 
dissolution to essentially the state in which they sub- 
sisted before their destruction ; for how can the grave 
and the sea at that epoch give up the dead that are 
in them, if there are no graves, nor sea, in which the 
dead are buried ? But who will venture to maintain 
that the earth and the sea are to be reproduced from 
non-existence, in their original state, and that the 
dead they once contained are to be redeposited in 
them, in order to their resurrection in the manner 
represented in that vision ? 



THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 327 

Such are the stupendous contradictions and absur- 
dities which the notion of the conflagration and disso- 
lution of the world at Christ's coming involves. It 
not only has no authority whatever in the passage 
from which it has been drawn, and no countenance 
from any other part of the word of God, but it is en- 
tirely inconsistent with the views which are presented 
in the prophets of the events that are to attend and 
follow Christ^s coming, destruction of the impious, 
judgment of the living population of the world, and 
reign over the nations through the ages that are to 
follow. 

It is not the Millenarian, therefore, but the Anti- 
millenarian, whose views it is impossible to reconcile 
v/ith the apostle's language, and the teachings gene- 
rally of the Scriptures on this subject. 

On the whole, then, the notion almost universally 
entertained of the conflagration and dissolution of the 
heavens and earth at Christ's coming, is without any 
ground whatever in the apostle's w^ords, and springs 
wholly from attaching to them a meaning which they 
do not involve. The fires by which the impious are 
then to be destroyed, are to be but local and tempo- 
rary, and are to offer, there is reason to believe, no 
more obstacle to the safety of the population of the 
globe at large, than the volcanoes have that liave 
already raged in the depths of the earth, and ejected 
their burning elements into the atmosphere. 



328 EVENTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRIST's COMING. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

EVENTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRIST's COMING. THE DRYING OF 

THE EUPHRATES, OR ALIENATION OF THE PEOPLE FROM THE NA- 
TIONAL HIERARCHIES. THE EMISSION OF THE UNCLEAN SPIRITS 

TO GATHER THE KINGS TO THE GREAT BATTLE AGAINST GOD. 

But Christ's advent is still at a considerable dis- 
tance, and is to be preceded by a series of great and 
momentous events, both in the governments of the 
world and in the church. What are the triumphs 
or defeats of his enemies, and the sad or joyous oc- 
currences to his friends, that are to mark the period 
that is yet to pass ere he comes and assumes the 
sceptre of the earth ? What is the point to which 
the accomplishment of the Apocalypse has advanced? 

The first four vials are justly regarded as having 
been poured in the French revolution and the wars 
that followed it from 1789 to 1815, and in a measure 
still later ; and the fifth as showered on the throne of 
the beast, partially in 1815 and 1830, but especially in 
1848, when the Catholic thrones on the continent 
were for a time in effect overturned, and the king- 
dom of the beast filled with darkness. The sixth 



THE DRYING OF THE EUPHRATES, 329 

has been descending through nearly as long a period, 
and is still pouring. The Euphrates of that vial bears 
the same relation to the Babylon of the prophecy, 
that the real river bore to the literal Babylon, the 
metropolis of Chaldea that stood on its banks. The 
symbol is taken from the drying up of the Euphrates 
by Cyrus, by diverting its waters from their channel, 
and by that means entering and conquering the 
city ; and it foreshows an analogous change in that 
which the symbolic Euphrates represents, and as the 
means of a similar conquest and destruction of that 
which the Babylon of the prophecy denotes. But 
the waters of the Euphrates symbolize peoples, and 
nations, and multitudes ; as the rivers and fountains 
of the third vial are expressly interpreted, as deno- 
ting human beings, communities, and nations. '' The 
third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and 
fountains of waters, and they became blood. And I 
heard the angel of the waters say : Thou art right- 
eous, Lord, who art, and who wast, the holy, be- 
cause thou hast judged thus : For tliey have shed the 
blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them 
hlood to drink: for they are loorthyj^ Rev. xvi. 4, 5. 
There is a similar exposition of the waters that were 
seen in -a subsequent vision surrounding the seven 
hills of Rome. " And he said unto me. The waters 
which thou sawest where the harlot sitteth, arc peo- 
ples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.'^ 
Rev. xvii. 15. The waters of the Euphrates, there- 
fore, we are thus shown by the revealing Spirit, liim- 



330 THE DRYIXG OF THE EUPHRATES. 

self, symbolize peoples, and multitudes, and nations. 
That accordingly which the Babylon of the pro- 
phecy represents, stands in a relation to those na- 
tions and multitudes, that resembles that of the 
literal Babylon to the Euphrates ; and is the hier- 
archy of the Catholic church especially, or the 
whole body of its ecclesiastics as a single organiza- 
tion, nationalized by the state ; as is indicated by the 
station of the woman Babylon on the wild beast, the 
symbol of the civil rulers of the western Roman em- 
pire. The drying up of the waters of the Euphrates 
so as to prepare the way for Cyrus and Darius, the 
kings of the East, to enter and conquer it, symbolizes 
the separation in a resembling manner of the nations 
and multitudes of the kingdoms of Europe from the 
hierarchies of the nationalized churches, especially 
the Catholic. And this great change is already 
wrought on a large scale in every kingdom to which 
the prophecy refers. In Italy, Spain,. Portugal, 
France, Switzerland, and Germany there is a general 
alienation of the Catholics from their hierarchies. 
An equal desertion of the churches and aversion to 
the ministers prevails in the Protestant national 
establishments of Belgium, Holland, Prussia, and 
Saxony — while in Great Brit?tin more than half the 
population are open dissenters from the establish- 
ment, and a large share of those who still belong to 
it, regard it with indifference, or aversion. 

The event foreshown by this vial is clearly, there- 
fore, in a largo measure accomplished. It is to be 



THE EMISSION OF THE UNCLEAISr SPIRITS. 331 

carried still farther, doubtless, and ere it reaches its 
completion, it is probable from the symbols of Chap- 
ter xvih that the Protestant national churches of 
Great Britain and Ireland, France, Switzerland, 
Belgium, Holland, Prussia, and Saxony, will be de- 
nationalized, and the Catholic be reinstated in the 
supremacy she formerly enjoyed throughout the ten 
kingdoms. The woman Babylon, borne by the wild 
beast in his last form immediately before going to 
perdition, is the symbol of a hierarchy, or combina- 
tion of hierarchies, that drinks the blood of the 
saints and the martyrs of Jesus. She denotes a 
persecuting hierarchy, or combination of hierar- 
chies then, that agree in the hatred of Christ^s doc- 
trines and disciples. They all, therefore, it seems 
probable are to be Catholics. 

When this alienation of the people from the hierar- 
chies has reached its consummation, the way will be 
opened for the parties whom the kings of the earth 
symbolize, to assail them and deject them from their 
station, as nationalized establishments, sustained and 
ruled by the states. 

Another important event that is to take place under 
the sixth vial, is the sending forth of the unclean spi- 
rits by the dragon, wild beast and false prophet. '^ And 
I saw come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out 
of the mouth of the wild beast, and out of the nunitli 
of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. 
For they are spirits of demons working signs, which 
go forth to the kings of the whole habitable earth, to 



332 THE EMISSION OF THE UNCLEAN SPIRITS. 

gather them to the battle of the great day of God the 
Almighty. '^ Chap. xvi. 13, 14. As the spirits were 
like frogs in shape, they must have had bodies ; and 
doubtless of that animal. They are called unclean 
because their bodies were of that class, and to denote 
their groveling and odious nature. That such hide- 
ous creatures, though animated by demons, should 
address themselves to the kings of the whole habita- 
ble earth — that is, of the Roman empire extending 
from the North sea to the Euphrates, and should per- 
suade them to enter into a war against Christ and his 
kingdom, implies that they will have sunk to the low- 
est conceivable degree of ignorance, debasement, and 
impiety. A more unlikely shape to exercise an intel- 
lectual and religious influence could not be selected. 
As they are intelligences and in bodies, the agents 
whom they denote must be intelligences also, and in 
bodies ; and are men therefore ; and of an unspiritu- 
ality, debasement and vileness that correspond to the 
demon frogs that represent them. As the spirits 
wrought signs to accomplish their ends, so these hu- 
man beings are to work signs that shall seem to be 
miraculous, and shall pass them off on the kings as 
proofs that they are the ministers of God, and have 
his authority for the commands or counsels to which 
they demand obedience. The vision therefore fore- 
shows that the dragon, the wild beast, and- the false 
prophet, are to send forth a set of agents who are to 
be as vile and odious as human beings, as frogs ani- 
mated by demons are in their sphere ; and who are 



THE EMISSION OF THE UNCLEAN SPIRITS. 333 

to go to the kings of the whole ancient Roman em- 
pire — stretching from the Euphrates to the Shetland 
isles — and professing to be God's ministers, are to 
work signs before them, and are to gather them to 
the battle of the great day of God Almighty, when 
he is to destroy them. As that battle is to take place 
in the great plain of Esdraelon in Palestine, and is to 
have for its object the dispersion of the Israelites 
who will have returned to Jerusalem, and the preven- 
tion of a Hebrew kingdom there over which Christ 
can reign, it is apparent that the agents of the dra- 
gon bea.st and false prophet, are to gather the kings 
there for the purpose of preventing the institution 
of Christ's kingdom. And this implies that at the 
time when they are sent forth for that purpose and 
commence their work, the Israelites ^vill have begun 
to return to their national land ; and that the expec- 
tation will prevail among Christ's true people that 
he is soon to appear for their redemption, that his 
advent is to take place in Palestine, and that it is to 
have for its first object, the deliverance and reorgani- 
zation of the Israelites, and destruction of their and 
his foes. This prediction therefore indicates that 
during the pouring of the sixth vial, and alienation 
of the population of the West of Europe from their 
persecuting hierarchies, the Israelites are to begin 
to return to Palestine in the expectation of reestab- 
lishing themselves as God's people there ; that the 
faithful disciples of Christ will generally become 
persuaded that the time of his advent is at liand, and 



334 THE SIXTH YIAL IS YET TO POUR SOME TIME. 

that he is to appear at Jerusalem, and establish his 
throne there over the Israelites ; and that the powers 
denoted by the dragon, the wild beast, and the false 
prophet, will each send forth agents of the vilest and 
most detestable character, who shall affect to be mes- 
sengers of God, and shall persuade the kings of the 
whole Roman empire. East and West, to assemble in 
Palestine to disperse the Israelites who have returned, 
and thereby to intercept the institution there of 
Christ^s kingdom. This shows that the sixth vial is 
yet to pour for a considerable time, and that great 
changes are to take place in the faith of the people 
of God in respect to his designs. As the slaughter 
and resurrection of the witnesses are to take place 
before the seventh trumpet, and as they will undoubt- 
edly carry a resistless conviction to all Christ's true dis- 
ciples that his coming is at hand, it is probable that 
the emission of the agents symbolized by the demon 
frogs will not take place till after those great events. 
The prophet adds the warning, "Behold I come as a 
thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his 
garments (on), lest he walk naked and they see his 
shame. And he gathered them together into a place 
called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. '' xvi. 15, 
16. This shows that Christ's coming will then be at 
hand, that he will apprise his people of it, and that 
they will watch for his approach like one who, wait- 
ing for a coming bridegroom, keeps his garments on 
that he may not be obliged to meet him undressed, 
and with disgrace. What a change this bespeaks ! 



CHANGES IN THE VIEWS OF BELIEVERS. 335 

The church of true believers are to be vv^hoUy waked 
ere then from the dreams which they are now indulg- 
ing. They w^ill cease to pervert and deny his word 
under the pretext of assigning it a spiritual meaning. 
Their eyes will be opened to discern its plain teach- 
ings ; and they will turn from their mistaken theories 
of the regeneration of the world, to welcome the com- 
ing and reign of the Lamb ; the King of kings and 
Lord of lords. 



336 EVENTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRIST's COMING. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

EVENTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRIST^S COMING. THE FALL OF THE 
PRESENT CIVIL GOVERNMENTS OF WESTERN EUROPE, AND UNION 
OF THE TEN KINGDOMS IN ONE EMPIRE. THE RESTORATION OF 
THE CATHOLIC HIERARCHIES TO SUPREME POWER. 

A REVOLUTION of tlie civil governments of the ten 
kingdoms is to take place probably at or near the 
close of the sixth vial, in which the old monarchies 
are to fall and be succeeded by new chiefs of perhaps 
an elective or military order, and they and the whole 
empire are to be under a common chief or emperor, 
as at the time of the vision, before the sovereignty 
passed from the heads to the horns. 

The wild beast, chafp. xiii. 1-10, represents the 
civil and military rulers of the Roman empire from 
its origin down to the end of the period denoted by 
the forty-two months. The beast of chap, xvii, is the 
symbol also of the civil rulers of that empire, but at 
a later stage, and after the beast of the first period 
has died, as it were, and returned from hades, to a 
new life and in an altered form. The beast of chap, 
xiii. rose out of the sea. The beast of chap, xvii, is 



FALL OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF WESTERN EUROPE. 337 

to ascend out of the abyss, hades, the invisible VN^oiid, 
where the devil is to be cast and imprisoned, chap. 
XX. 3, and where the spirits of the unsanctified abide. 
This indicates that before assuming the form which 
it is to wear at the period to which chap, xvii refers, 
it is to perish, and is to return to life in its last shape, 
as it were by a resurrection. The angel said of it 
accordingly, '' The beast that thou sawest, was, and 
is not, and shall ascend out of the abyss — hades — and 
go into perdition f and he represents its reappearance 
after its destruction, as exciting the astonishment of 
the nations over which it is to rule. ^' And they that 
dwell on the earth shall wonder (whose names were 
not written in the book of life from the foundation of 
the world) when they behold the beast that was, and 
is not, and yet is.'^ This beast differs from that of 
chap, xiii in its hue. It is scarlet colored ; signify- 
ing that it is to be steeped in blood. No such dye is 
ascribed to the beast that rose from the sea. It is to 
be full, or covered throughout with names of blas- 
phemy, indicating that it is to be pre-eminently impi- 
ous in its pretensions and acts. The beast from the 
sea only had names of blasphemy on its heads. On 
the ten horns of the beast from the sea there were 
ten diadems, showing that the rulers v^diom the horns 
symbolized were to be independent, or absolute mon- 
archs. Nothing is said of diadems on the horns of 
the beast from the abyss ; and it would seem from 
the description of the kings or chiefs wliom they re- 
present, V. 12, that they are not in realitv \o be inde- 
15 



338 FALL OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF WESTERN EUROPE. 

pendent kings, but are only to have authority as 
kings. A still more important peculiarity of the re- 
vived beast is to be that instead of being under the 
sway of a head, or succession of rulers of a specific 
rank, as during the first ages of its career, or under 
the rule of the horns, as during the twelve hundred 
and sixty years of their power, it is to be under the 
svv^ay of a single king or imperial chief, much like a 
Ccesar. " The seven heads are as symbols the same as 
the seven mountains, where the woman sits, and are 
seven kings. Five have fallen ; one is ; the other 
has not yet come ; and when he comes, he n^ust con- 
tinue a short time. And the beast which was, and is 
not, even he is an eighth (king), and is of the seven 
— and goes to perdition. And the ten horns which 
thou sawest are ten kings which have not yet received 
a kingdom, but receive authority as kings one hour 
with the beast. These shall have one mind, and shall 
give their power and authority to the beast. These 
shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall 
conquer them ; for he is Lord of lords, and King of 
kings, and they who are with him are called, and cho- 
sen, and faithful.'^ chap. xvii. 9-14. That the kings 
are not to receive a kingdom, but only have authority 
as kings with the beast, and that they give their 
power and authority to him, shows that they are not 
to be absolute monarchs of the ten kingdoms, but only 
vice-kings or chiefs under the eighth king, who like 
those symbolized by the seven heads is to be the 
king, or chief of the whole empire : and accordingly 



THE GOVERNMENT THAT IS TO SUCCEED. 339 

is called the beast, it would seem, because the whole 
power of the empire will in fact be held by him. 

This vision thus clearly shows that the beast of ten 
diademed horns that rose out of the sea is, at the end 
of its twelve hundred and sixty years probably, to 
perish in some great political convulsion ; and is 
again to rise from the abyss of hades to a new life in 
a modified form, and after a brief career go to perdi- 
tion. In that revolution the old monarchies are to 
fall, and be succeeded by an imperial chief who shall 
reign over the whole empire, with absolute sway like 
the emperors of the old Roman empire ; and by ten 
subordinate chiefs who shall receive authority much 
as though they were kings ; but who perhaps after 
rising to their stations, by popular choice, or usurpa- 
tion, shall give over their power to that imperial 
chief, and hold it thereafter as his subordinates. And 
in this relation, they are to make war on the Lamb, 
and to be conquered by him. 

This great revolution in the governments of the 
ten kingdoms is clearly yet future. Though the mon- 
archs of several of the Catholic kingdoms lost their 
power for a short time in 1848, and the beast appeared 
to have perished, and to be followed by elective 
chiefs ; yet the old monarchies soon recovered their 
former power in all the kingdoms except France, 
where a new rule was established. That may perhaps 
prove the beginning of the change. The other mon- 
archies may not fall together but in succession : as 
they originally rose, not simultaneously, but at (tiller- 



340 THE CHANGE IS TO BE UNDER THE SIXTH VIAL. 

ent periods. How soon it is to be completed, it is 
not clearly revealed, but certainly before the close of 
the sixth vial ; as it is expressly foreshown, chap. xi. 
9, that it is the beast from the abyss that is to make 
war on the witnesses and overcome them ; and that 
is indicated also by its bloody hne, and. the intoxica- 
tion of the woman whom it bears, with the blood of 
the saints, and of the witnesses of Jesus. And their 
slaughter is to take place under the sixth vial. There 
seems already to be a preparation for it in Italy, Ger- 
many, Spain, and Portugal. No one would be sur- 
prised at the occurrence any day of revolutions there 
that should overthrow the old dynasties, and rear 
democracies, or military despotisms on their ruins. 
Nor would it be deemed strange, should such a change 
ere long take place in Great Britain. The causes 
that are in action, it is universally felt, must naturally, 
sooner or later, issue in such a change. The beast 
in this last form may, perhaps, occupy the thirty 
years, that are to follow the twelve hundred and sixty. 
The apostate and persecuting hierarchies are again, 
it is shown by this vision, when the beast rises from 
the abyss to its new career, to be exalted to supremacy 
throughout the ten kingdoms. The station of the 
woman Babylon on the beast, shows that the hierar- 
chies which she represents are to be nationalized, and 
this implies that the Protestant establishments of 
Great Britain and the continent will then have fallen, 
and the Catholic church have succeeded to their 
power. The tendency at present is very obviously 



THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AGAIN TO BE IN POWER. 341 

in that direction. Her holding the cup of her abom- 
inations in her hand, indicates that she is to be active 
in the dissemination of her false doctrines and super- 
stitious and idolatrous rites ; while her intoxication 
with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus, 
foreshows that she is to piirsue and slaughter them 
with an infuriate joy. But her triumph will be short. 
The demonstration of her impious character, and con- 
futation of her pretences that will be wrought by the 
resurrection of the w^itnesses, will disenchant the mul- 
titude, whom she has duped, from her sorceries, and 
prompt them to assail and destroy her. 



342 THE SLAUGHTER AND RESURRECTION 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

EVENTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRIST's COMING, THE SLAUGHTER 
AND RESURRECTION OF THE WITNESSES. 

It is under the sway of the wild beast from the 
abyss that the persecution, slaughter and resurrec- 
tion of the witnesses are to take place, and probably 
soon after its return to power. " And I will give to 
my two witnesses, and they shaU prophesy a thou- 
sand two hundred and threescore days in sackcloth. 
And when they shall have finished their testimony, 
the beast that ascendeth out of the abyss shall make 
war upon them, and shall overcome them, and shall 
kill them. And their dead body shaU lie in the broad 
place of the great city which sj)iritua]ly is called So- 
dom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 
And they of the peoples, and tribes, and tongues, and 
nations (gathered there) look on their dead body three 
days and a half, and they do not suffer their dead 
bodies to be put into a sepulchre. And they that 
dwell upon the earth rejoice over them and exult, 
and shall send gifts to one another, because those 
two prophets tormented them that dwell on the 
earth. 



OF THE WITNESSES. 343 

" And after three days and a half the Spirit of life 
from God entered into them, and they stood upon 
their feet, and great fear fell upon those who saw 
them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, 
saying unto them, Ascend here. And they ascended 
into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them. 
And in the same hour there was a great earthquake, 
and the tenth part of the city fell ; and in the earth- 
quake were slain seven thousand names of men (men" 
of name), and the rest became fearful, and gave glory 
to the God of heaven.'' Rev. xi. 3-13. 

The two witnesses are representatives according 
to the third law of symbols, of men that are witnesses 
like themselves ; not agents of a different nature. 
This is seen from the consideration that their death 
cannot symbolize any other event than a real death 
of witnesses for Christ. Their death cannot repre- 
sent an apostasy from God, for his witnesses do not 
apostatize : nor would he raise apostates from their 
apostasy to his presence in heaven as a public vindi- 
cation and rew^ard of their revolt from him. The 
death which their dying symbolizes is a real corpo- 
real death, therefore, of witnesses like themselves ; 
and this is confirmed by the consideration, that, if a 
real death and resurrection of witnesses for Jesus 
were to be foreshown symbolically : there are no 
symbols that could represent it but a real death and 
resurrection of witnesses like themselves. The death 
of animals could not represent it, for they cannot die 
as witnesses. Nor is there any other event of which 



344 THE SLAUGHTER AXD RESURRECTION 

men can be the subjects, that bears any analogy to 
it. The "witnesses then are symbols of witnesses 
like themselves, and their death, their non-bnrial, 
their resurrection, and their assumption to heaven, 
denote a like real corporeal death, non-burial, resur- 
rection and ascension to heaven of the witnesses 
whom they symbolize. They are but tw-o ; but ac- 
cording to the sixth law of symbolization, they un- 
doubtedly represent a large number, probably hun- 
dreds, perhaps thousands. 

When they have finished their testimony of twelve 
hundred and sixty days, the wild beast that ascends 
out of the abyss, — that is, returns from hades, — is to 
make war on them, and conquer them, and put them 
to death : and is to place their dead bodies in the 
broad place of the great city which spiritually is 
called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord w^as 
crucified. Jerusalem then w^as the symbol city in 
which their slaughter took place : and as it was 
given, with the temple that was in it, to the Gentiles 
to be trodden by them for the forty-two months of 
the ministry of the witnesses, it is the symbol of the 
inhabited territory under the dominion of the beast, 
in which the Christian church is situated, and where 
the witnesses whom the symbol prophets represent, 
are to deliver their testimony and meet their death. 
The broad place in Jerusalem, accordingly, — which 
was the chief place of concourse and business, — sym- 
bolizes a part of the ten kingdoms that bears a simi- 
lar relation to the whole a« a place of concourse and 



OF THE WITNESSES. 345 

business. It may therefore be the leading city in 
England ; it may be the capital of Prance ; it may be 
a much frequented city of Italy. 

The time of the bodies remaining there — three 
days and a half — is the symbol of three and a half 
years. The preservation of the bodies unburied, and 
in a locality where they were accessible, and were 
continually inspected by people from different parts 
of the empire for three days and a half, signifies that 
the bodies of those whom they represent, are in like 
manner at the instance of the people, to be kept un- 
buried in a place where they are to be open to in- 
spection by all who wish to see them ; and that they 
are to be continually visited and viewed by persons 
from the different districts of the empire : and that 
treatment must undoubtedly be prompted by some 
peculiar and powerful motive : and what can it be, 
but a wish to test and confute, if possible, the truth 
of this prophecy, that the witnesses are at the end 
of three years and a half to be raised from the dead ? 
The measures to be taken are precisely such as would 
naturally be employed by the civil powers, if the 
witnesses and their friends entertained and professed 
the belief, that according to this prophecy, God would 
raise them to life and take them to heaven : and the 
rulers and people disbelieving and deriding it, re- 
solved in the most effective manner to test, and if 
possible confute it. That accordingly is the object 
undoubtedly of their preserving their bodies un- 
buried, and in a form in which they will be prevent- 

15^ 



346 THE SLAUGHTER AND RESURRECTION 

ed from dissolution, and can be identified. That is 
the reason for which the bodies are to be placed 
where they will be open to inspection by whoever 
wishes to see them. That is the reason that they 
are to be objects of such general curiosity, and are to 
be visited continuously by persons of the different 
peoples, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations of 
the empire through the whole of the three years and 
a half of their lying dead : and that is the reason also 
that on the day of their resurrection, their enemies 
are to be present, and are to witness their restoration 
to life and assumption to heaven. Why are their 
enemies to be present at that juncture, if it is not 
that they are to be aware that that is the day on 
which, according to this prophecy, their resurrection 
is to take place ? 

This vision thus foreshows that the wild beast soon 
after its return from hades, is to attempt to confute 
this prophecy, and the persuasion of the martyrs of 
Jesus, and their friends, that they are truly his wit- 
nesses, by putting them to death in the manner re- 
presented in this vision, and complying with all its 
predictions in the preservation of their bodies un- 
buried in a place of chief concourse, in the empire, 
and in a form in which they can be identified ; and 
allowing them to be continually visited and inspected 
by whoever wishes to see them ; and that this is to 
cause a crowd of their enemies to be present at the 
time when, according to the prophecy, they are to 
be raised, to testify to their non-resurrection, should 



OF THE WITNESSES. 347 

they not rise ; but who, instead of triumphing over 
the victims of their rage, are themselves to meet a 
defeat. At the great moment, the cloud of the di- 
vine presence is suddenly to fill the heavens over the 
scene, and doubtless to flash its glory on the croTvds 
upgazing in surprise and terror. The Spirit of 
life is to descend from Jehovah, and entering the 
dead witnesses, they are to rise to their feet, and a 
loud voice from heaven calling them to ascend there, 
they are to pass up through the air and enter the 
cloudy pavilion in which the Almighty is concealed. 
No wonder their enemies who witness the spectacle 
are to be struck with fear, and give glory to the God 
of heaven ! No wonder that the whole population of 
the empire are to be thrown into commotion at the 
news of the event ! A great political agitation and 
revolution, symbolized by an earthquake, is immedi- 
ately to follow, and a tenth part of the empire, that 
is one of its ten kingdoms symbolized by a tenth of 
the city, is to fall, and thousands of the most con- 
spicuous and influential in it, are to perish. 

What an impressive proof this revelation presents 
of the error of the notion that is generally entertain- 
ed, that the days of persecution are over ; that the 
church hereafter, instead of being assailed and van- 
quished by the antichristian powders, is itself to con- 
quer them, and is to carry the gospel victoriously to 
all lands, and sweep from the earth all the forms of 
false religion by which the nations are now held in 



348 THE SLAUGHTER AND RESURRECTION 

vassalage ! Not a word indeed uttered by the voice 
of inspiration authorizes that expectation. It is con- 
futed by the whole body of predictions that respect 
the issue of the contest between the wild beast and 
Christ's witnesses, and the state of the world and 
church at the close of the present dispensation. 
And here is a specific revelation that in the last 
period of the powers symbolized by the wild beast — 
the rulers of the western Roman empire — they are to 
attempt absolutely to exterminate the faithful wit- 
nesses of Christ by martyring them, and to confute 
this prophecy of their resurrection, and of his coming 
and kingdom on the earth, and thereby forever con- 
found and extinguish the faith of God/s people in 
his predictions and promises respecting Christ's 
reign ; and justify their usurpations of his throne 
and blasphemies of his name. The enemies of 
Christ's kingdom are to rage more furiously here- 
after, than they have ever yet done ; they are for a 
time to regard themselves as having more certainly 
triumphed, and his followers are to be exposed to 
more abusive denunciations and cutting mockeries, 
and are to be swept from the earth by a more bloody 
and exterminating persecution than at any other 
period of their conflicts ! How greatly are their 
dangers augmented who studiously shut their eyes 
to this great futurity proclaimed to us by such im- 
pressive symbols, and pictured in this vision in such 
a form that the whole scene is made visible, as it 



OF THE WITNESSES. 349 

were to us, and the glorious victory to the martyrs 
in which it is to terminate ! " Blessed is he that 
watcheth and keepeth his garments lest he walk 
naked and they see his shame. '^ 



350 THE CLOSE OF THE SECOND WOE. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

EVENTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRIST^S COMING. ^THE CLOSE OP 

THE TURKISH DOMINATION OVER THE EASTERN CHURCHES. THE 

THIRD WOE. 

The resurrection and ascension of the witnesses is 
to be followed by the termination of the second woe, 
and the commencement of the third. ^' The second 
woe is past : behold, the third woe cometh quickly.'' 
Rev. xi. 14. The second woe is the domination of 
the Turks over the churches of the eastern Roman 
empire. Under their cruel and debasing sway those 
churches long numerous, wealthy, and of a command- 
ing influence in the state, have disappeared from 
many once flourishing cities and populous districts, 
and have every where dwindled into feebleness and 
decrepitude, and sunk to the lowest depths of igno- 
rance and superstition. "What the way is in which 
the woe they are sufi*ering from the Mohammedans 
is to terminate, whether by the fall of the Turkish 
power, and the institution of new governments, or 
by the complete extrication of the churches from 
their dominion and influence in a religious relation 



THE THIRD WOE. 351 

the prophecy does not indicate. It seems most pro- 
bable it will be the overthrow of the Turkish rule, 
and the substitution of Christian governments in its 
place. 

The third woe is that which is to be inflicted under 
the seventh vial and seventh trumpet. " And the 
seventh poured his vial into the air ; and there came 
a great voice out of the temple from the throne, say- 
ing, It is done ! And there were lightnings, and 
voices, and thunders ; and there was a great earth- 
quake, such as there was not since men were upon 
the earth, so mighty an earthquake, so great. And 
the great city was divided into three parts, and the 
cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon came 
in remembrance before God, to give unto her the 
cup of the wine- of the fierceness of his wrath. And 
every island fled away, and the mountains were not 
found. And hail great as talents in weight fell out 
of heaven upon men ; and men blasphemed God 
because of the plague of the hail, for its plague was 
very great." Chap. xvii. 17-21. These symbols 
show that the nations are now to be shaken by the 
most violent convulsions and smitten wdth inflictions. 
Lightnings, thunders and other sounds in the air, 
and the vibration and upheaving of the earth, be- 
speak analogous commotions and outbreaks in the 
world of men, and show that the whole structure of 
society is to be thrown into agitation and revolution. 
The great city is Babylon, the symbol of the Catholic 
nationalized hierarchies, and its separation into throe 



352 EVENTS UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 

parts denotes that those hierarchies are to divide 
into three parties. The cities of the nations are 
symbols of the nationalized hierarchies of other 
churches out of the western Roman empire, such as 
the Lutheran of Denmark and Sweden, the Greek of 
Russia and Greece, the Armenian, Syrian, and others 
of the eastern Roman empire, and their fall denotes 
their denationalization, or loss of their power which 
they derive from the civil governments under which 
they exist. The crushing hail denotes some direct 
and torturing infliction from God, under which men, 
instead of repenting, are to be inflamed with rage at 
him, and are to blaspheme his name. All the events 
symbolized under the seventh vial are thus inflic- 
tions ; plagues ; the last plagues ; and the vial from 
which they are poured is a vial of wrath. 

The events foreshown under the seventh trumpet 
which is to be blown simultaneously with the efi*usion 
of the seventh vial, are more extensive, and consist 
of gifts and deliverances to God^s people, living and 
dead, as well as judgments on his enemies. " And 
the seventh angel sounded. And there were great 
voices in heaven saying : The kingdom of the world 
is become our Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall 
reign forever and ever. 

" And the twenty-four elders who sat before God 
on their thrones, fell on their faces and worshipped 
God, saying : "We thank thee, Lord, the Almighty 
God, who art and who wast, that thou hast taken thy 
great power and reigned. And the nations were 



EVENTS UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 353 

angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the 
dead to be judged, and to give the reward to thy 
servants the prophets, and the holy, and those who 
fear thy name, small and great, and to destroy those 
who destroy the earth. And the temple of God was 
opened in heaven, and the ark of his covenant was 
seen in his temple. And there were lightnings, and 
voices, and thunders, and an earthquake and great 
hail.^' Chap. xi. 15-19. 

The lightnings, the voices, the thunders, the earth- 
quake and the hail, which are the only symbols of 
that class that accompanied the sound of the trumpet, 
are the same as those of the seventh vial, and denote 
the same political agitations and revolutions. The 
voices from heaven and the song of the elders are not 
symbolical, but are direct announcements of other 
events that are to take place under the trumpet — the 
first that the sovereignty of the world has become 
Christ^s : the other that God's wrath is come, and the 
time of the dead that he should judge and give re- 
ward to his servants the prophets and the holy, and 
all who fear his name, and should destroy his enemies. 
.A.S these are not represented by symbols, and are not 
expressed in figures, but in the most simple and une- 
quivocal language, there is no room for the fancy that 
the events which they announce are not literally those 
which they foreshow. All pretext for spiritualizing 
them is cut off". They cannot be spiritualized, indeed, 
except by converting them into solecisms and nonsense. 
What can God's wrath mean, spiritualized ? Is any 



354 CHRIST IS TO COME 

such thing known as a spiritualized wrath of God, in 
contradistinction from his literal wrath ? What can 
rewarding his servants who are dead, and the holy 
who are living, mean spiritualized ? If the passage 
is to be spiritualized, the servants of God, the pro- 
phets, the holy, and the destroyers of the earth must 
be treated as representatives of beings of different 
orders. Who then are they who are represented by 
the holy who are to receive the spiritualized reward ? 
Not human beings certainly ; for they must be beings 
of a different order from those who represent them. 
Who are the parties whom the destroyers that are to 
be destroyed, represent ? And what is it that their 
destruction symbolizes ? Is there a spiritual destruc- 
tion that is to be inflicted on those whom the wild 
beast and false prophet represent, in distinction from 
that literal destruction which is denoted by their be- 
ing cast into the lake of fire and brimstone ? Will 
any one thus involve himself in contradictions and 
absurdities in order to force on these predictions a 
signification which cannot be defined nor conceived? 
There is no consistent medium between denying that 
they are prophecies, and admitting that they foreshow 
the coming of Christ, the resurrection and judgment 
of the holy dead, and the judgment and reward of the 
holy living. No legerdemain, however daring or 
adroit, can wrest from them that meaning. 

Christ then, it is indisputable, is under the seventh 
trumpet to come and assume the dominion of the 
world ; he is then to inflict his wrath on the great 



UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 355 

enemies of his kingdom, and sweep tliem to destruc- 
tion ; he is then to judge and reward all w^ho fear his 
name, both small and great ; and as they include the 
living, he is then to judge and reward all those who 
are living that are holy. And these predictions, it is 
apparent from what follows, will then be understood 
by the people of God, as revealing these great events, 
and their verification will be regarded as at hand. 



356 THE ANGEL IN MID-HEAYEN. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

EVEXTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRISt's COMIK'G. THE ANNOUNCE- 
MENT BY THE ANGEL IN MID-HEAVEN, THAT THE HOUR OF GOD^S 

JUDGMENT IS COME. THE FALL OF BABYLON. THE WARNING 

NOT TO PAY HOMAGE TO THE CIVIL POWERS REPRESENTED BY THE 
BEAST NOR TO THE KCCLESIASTICAL POWERS DENOTED BY ITS 
IMAGE. 

Soon after the seventh trumpet begins to sound, 
the angel flying through mid-heaven having the 
everlasting gospel, will announce to the nations that 
the hour of God^s judgment has come. " And I saw 
another angel flying in mid-heaven, having the ever- 
lasting gospel to proclaim to those w^ho dwell on the 
earth, and to every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and 
people, saying with a loud voice : Fear ye God, and 
give him glory, for the hour of his judgment is come ; 
and Avorship je him who made the heaven, and the 
earth, and sea, and fountains of water/' Chap. xiv. 
6, 7. The hour of God's judgment of the living na- 
tions to whom this announcement is to be made, is 
the hour or time in which he is to judge them, as is 
foreshown under the seventh trumpet, and Matt. xxv. 



ANNOUNCING THE HOUR OF GOD^S JUDGMENT. 357 

31-46 ; and is to accept and reward those of thenrwlio 
are obedient, and condemn and destroy those of them 
who are his enemies. The angel vestured in light, 
and flying through the high regions of the air where 
all eyes can see him, is the symbol of an order of men 
who are in a conspicuous and impressive manner to 
proclaim the everlasting gospel to the nations of the 
earth, and warn them that the time has arrived when 
God is to judge them, and assign them everlasting 
rewards, according as they are or are not his worship- 
pers, and to exhort them to fear and adore him. 
This indicates that the ministers of the gospel, or at 
least a large and conspicuous body of them, will at 
that time understand the predictions under the sev- 
enth trumpet, as announcing the speedy coming of 
Christ to establish his throne on the earth, to raise 
and glorify his dead saints, to judge and reward his 
living elect, and to destroy his incorrigible enemies. 
The perversion of the Scriptures by spiritualization 
will then have ceased. The great revelations God 
has made of his purposes, will be received in their 
natural and true meaning ; and the dreams of a re- 
demption of the world by 4iuman instrumentalities, 
and of a millennial kingdom without its king and its 
risen saints, now so fondly cherished by multitudes, 
will have given way to the joyous expectation and 
assurance of the Saviour's coming and reign in power 
and glory, and continuance of his redemptive work 
through everlasting ages. 

This proclamation tliat the hour of God'e judgment 



358 THE SECOND ANGEL ANNOUNCING 

lias come, is soon to be followed by the announ cement 
by another body of men that it has already commenced, 
in the fall of Babylon. '' And there followed another 
angel saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, the great 
city, because she made all nations drink of the wine 
of her fornication." Chap. xiv. 8. And another angel, 
it seems from chap, xviii. 1-3, instead of flying along 
the high regions of the air, came down from heaven, 
and repeated this announcement. ^' And after these 
things I saw another angel come down from heaven 
having great power ; and the earth was lighted with 
his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, 
saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is 
become the habitation of demons, and the hold of 
every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and 
hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine 
of the fury of her fornication, and the kings of the 
earth have committed fornication Avith her, and the 
merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the 
abundance of her delicacies." These angels, like that 
with the everlasting gospel, are symbols of bodies of 
men, who are to rise and proclaim to the nations the 
fall of Babylon, by the judgment of God because of 
her great sins. She is spoken of chiefly as a woman. 
Her arts as such, and her seduction of the nations by 
her intoxicating cup, are symbols of her apostasy 
from her covenant with God to the homage of demons 
and idols, and allurement and compulsion of the na- 
tions by her arts and power to join in her false wor- 
ship. Her fall accordingly is her dejection from her 



THE FALL OF BABYLON. 359 

station on the wild beast, chap. xvii. 3, and signifies 
the fall of the hierarchies which she symbolizes from 
their position -as nationalized by the civil govern- 
ments ; not their annihilation ; for they are to subsist 
after their fall, and be a station for demons and mon- 
sters, as the literal Chaldean Babylon on its overthrow 
became the abode of the most hideous and detestable 
animals. Her destruction is to take place at a later 
period, and by the hands of the people, not of the 
rulers. The splendor of the angel who lighted the 
earth with his glory, indicates that those whom he 
represents are to be persons of great distinction and 
influence ; and their proclamation of her fall from her 
connection with the states that have sustained her, 
given her power to tyrannize and persecute, and exe- 
cuted her bloody decrees, shows that the people of 
God will regard it as an event of the greatest moment, 
and deem it essential that it should be contemplated 
as the act of God's vengeance in retribution of her 
sins. 

This public and emphatic announcement by those 
whom the angel represents that she is hurled from 
her lofty station, because of her infidelity to God and 
seduction of the nations from his worship to the hom- 
age of demons and idols, seems eminently proper, 
both as a vindication of God, and justification of those 
who have resisted her sway, and as a confutation of 
her impious usurpations and claims. Her vassals are 
not to be left to regard her fall as a mere natural 
event that presents no index of her character. Tlie 



360 THE THIRD AXGEL WARXIXG MEN 

nations are not to be left in doubt what the judgment 
of God respecting her is. 

The announcement of the fall of Babylon is to be 
followed by a warning to the nations not to pay any 
more the homage to the beast and its image which 
they will still endeavor to exact. ^^ And another, a 
third angel, followed them, saying with a loud voice : 
If any one worship the wild beast and its image, and 
receive a mark on his forehead, or on his hand, he 
shall even drink of the vdne of the wrath of God 
poured out unmixed into the cup of his indignation, 
and shall be tormented in fire and brimstone before 
the holy angels, and before the Lamb. And the 
smoke of their torment ascends for ever and ever. 
And they have no rest day and night who worship 
the wild beast and its image, and whoever receives 
the mark of its name. Here is the patience of the 
saints, who keep the commands of God and the faith 
of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, 
Write, Blessed are the dead, who hereafter die in the 
Lord ; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from 
their toils, and their works follow ^^'ith. them.'^ Chap. 
xiv. 9-13. 

This angel, like those that preceded him, symbolizes 
a body of eminent men who are in a public and im- 
pressive manner to utter this warning against wor- 
shipping the beast and its image ; and pronounce 
this blessing on those who suffer martyrdom rather 
than swerve from their allegiance to God. The wild 
beast is the symbol of the civil rulers of the western 



NOT TO WORSHIP THE BEAST NOR ITS IMAGE. 361 

Eoman empire : The image is the symbol of the Ca- 
tholic hierarchy of that empire, or whole body of Ca- 
tholic clergy with the pope as their head, which is 
modeled after the imperial government at the time 
of the vision, and is for that reason called the image 
of the wild beast. To worship the wild beast and its 
image, is to acknow^ledge and submit to the claims 
and commands of the civil rulers and the papal eccle- 
siastics in which they usurp the prerogatives of God, 
and legislate over his law^s as though they had supreme 
authority over religion itself, and could determine 
who or what men shall worship, and what acts or ser- 
vices shall be the means and conditions of salvation : 
— a submission to which is equivalent to an ascription 
to the beast and image of the rights of God. Any 
one who after this warning deifies and Vv^orships them 
in that manner, and thereby in effect denies that God 
is his supreme lawgiver, and that it belongs to him 
alone to determine the method of salvation, is to drink 
the unmixed wine of God's wrath. He is not to be 
saved from that doom by being led by the Spirit to 
repentance. He is not to be forgiven. The only 
measure God will take with him will be to present to 
him the cup of his indignation ; to consign him to the 
fires in which the incorrigible are for ever to be tor- 
mented. The warning indicates that the powers 
symbolized by the beast and its image will still per- 
sist in their impious claims to dictate the religion of 
the people, and that there will bo persons who will 

be tempted to yield to them : And the aiuiounconient, 

16 



362 A BLESSING ON THOSE WHO DIE FOR CHRIST. 

" Here is the patience of the saints ; who keep the 
commands of God and the faith of Jesus '^ and the 
voice from heaven, " Blessed are the dead who here- 
after die in the Lord ; yea saith the Spirit ; that they 
may rest from their toils, for their works follow with 
them,'' shows that the civil powers and the Catholic 
priests are still to endeavor to constrain obedience to 
their impious dictation. The saints are at this junc- 
ture, as well as at the period when the witnesses are 
slain, to show their steadfast allegiance by enduring 
persecution rather than unite in the worship of the 
apostate church, and some of them are to surrender 
their lives for Christ's sake. The contest between 
the two parties is thus to continue to the last. The 
antichristian powers are not to be brought to repent- 
ance by the judgments with which they are smitten. 
The beast and false prophet are to continue to blas- 
pheme and make war on the Lamb and his followers, 
till he interposes and hurls them to destruction. 



THE SEALING OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD. 363 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

EVENTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRIST's COMING. THE SEALING OF 

THE SERVANTS OF GOD. THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON. SIGNS 

OF Christ's coming in the heaven ; and on the earth. 

It is at this period of persecution, it is probable, 
that the sealing of the servants of God which is fore- 
shown under the sixth seal, is to take place. ^' And 
after this, I saw four angels standing at the four 
corners of the earth, having power over the four 
winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on 
the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I 
saw another angel ascending from the sun-rising, 
having the seal of the living God. And he cried 
with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it Avas 
given to hurt the earth and the sea ; saying, Hurt 
not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, until we can 
seal the servants of our God on their foreheads. And 
I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred forty- 
four thousand were sealed out of the whole race of 
the sons of Israel." Chap. vii. 1-4. The angel from 
the sun-rising is the symbol of a body of men wlio 
are to exert the agency which is denoted by liis seal- 



364 THE SEALING OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD. 

ing the hundred forty-four thousand of the sons of 
Israel. The effect of his stamping the name of God 
on their foreheads was, not to constitute them ser- 
vants of God, but to make it manifest to others that 
they were such. It was as his servants that they 
were marked by the impression of his name. The 
effect of that which the sealing symbolizes is in like 
manner to be that those who are distinguished by 
it, are to become visibly and demonstrably such, to 
those who behold them. The twelve tribes of the 
sons of Israel, are symbols of the denominations or 
bodies of the Christian church from which those are 
to be taken, on whom the agency denoted by the 
sealing is to be exerted. As the effect of the seal- 
ing the sons of Israel was to make it manifest to 
spectators that they were the servants of God, so 
the effect of that which the sealing symbolizes is to 
be to make it manifest that those who are the sub- 
jects of it are the servants of God. And what that 
is, is indicated in the description of the hundred 
forty-four thousand, as they appeared standing Avith 
the Lamb on Mount Zion, having his name, and the 
name of his Father written on their foreheads ; 
where it is given as their characteristic. '' That 
they were not defiled with women ; for they are 
pure.'' Chap. xiv. 4. Being defiled with women 
is the s3"mbol of being seduced to the false worship 
of the apostate priesthood represented by the harlot 
Babylon and her daughters. That which is especi- 
ally to distinguish those represented by the sealed 



THE SEALING OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD. 865 

then, is, that it is to be made manifest to all eyes 
that they are the servants of God by their maintain- 
ing a spotless allegiance to Christ, and refusing to 
yield to the seductions of the idolatrous hierarchies, 
and the compulsion of the civil rulers to sanction 
their usurpations of authority over the church, and 
to join in their superstitious and idolatrous worship. 
The office of those whom the sealing angel symbol- 
izes, is accordingly to be to prompt or cause them to 
give that public proof of their allegiance to Christ. 
It may be by instruction, counsel, exhortation, un- 
folding their duty to Christ, depicting the guilt of 
apostasy, pointing them to the rewards with which 
their fidelity will be immediately crowned. That 
reward is not improbably a transfiguration to glory. 
For '' these,^' it is added, " have been redeemed from 
men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb, and in 
their mouths was found no falsehood ; for they are 
blameless.^' Chap. xiv. 4, 5. As they are to be dis- 
tinguished from others by the indubitable proofs they 
exhibit of their allegiance to Christ, so they are to 
be distinguished by him from others by being the 
first of living men who are to obtain a perfect re- 
demption. The song they are to sing accordingly, 
it is said, no one can learn but themselves — showing 
that there is a peculiarity in God^s dealings with 
them, with which no others are to bo distinguished. 
It seems eminently appropriate that the first of the 
living who are thus transformed to glory and raised 
to the most intimate relations to Christ, should be 



366 WARNING TO GO OUT OF BABYLON. 

persons who have given the most decisive evidence 
of their inflexible allegiance to him. That some are 
to display no such alertness and fidelity, but are 
to continue under the sway of the apostate priests 
after their denationalization, is seen from the sum- 
mons to them to come out of Babylon after her fall. 
*^ And I heard another voice from heaven saying. 
Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers 
of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. ^^ 
Chap, xviii. 4. 

This warning of the people of God to come out of 
Babylon is soon to be followed by her destruction. — 
Her overthrow and annihilation are exhibited as of 
a city by a conflagration; but the plagues with 
which the hierarchies the city represents are to be 
swept from the earth, are want, sorrow, slaughter, 
and fire ; the . instruments with which they con- 
signed so many of God's people to the grave : " Give 
to her as she also gave, and double to her double 
according to her works. Into the cup into which 
she has poured, pour to her double. As much 
as she has glorified herself and lived luxuriously, 
so much torment give her and sorrow. Because 
in her heart she says, I sit a queen, and am not 
a widow, and I cannot see sorrow ; therefore in 
one day her plagues shall come, death and sor- 
row and famine, and she shall be burned with 
fire ; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged 
her." Chap, xviii. 6-8. And her destruction is to 
be the work of the people whom she has deluded b}^ 



THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON. 367 

her sorceries, and crushed by her tyranny : not the 
civil rulers ; for they are to stand unresisting spec- 
tators of her overthrow, and lament it. " And the 
kings of the earth who have committed fornication 
and lived luxuriously with her, when standing afar 
for fear of her torment, they see the smoke of her 
burning, shall lament and mourn, saying : Alas, alas, 
the great city Babylon, the mighty city : for in one hour 
has thy judgment come !^' And the destruction is to be 
complete . ^^ And a mighty angel took up a stone like a 
great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus 
with violence shall the great city Babylon be cast 
down, and shall not be found any more." " Rejoice 
over her, heaven, and the saints, and the apostles, 
and the prophets, for God has avenged your condem- 
nation by her !'^ v. 21, 20. The apostles and pro- 
phets whom she has condemned, the martyrs on whom 
she has wreaked her vengeance from age to age, will 
see in the storm that sweeps her to ruin a vindication 
of themselves. The angels who have witnessed her 
long career will rejoice in her end as a fitting display 
of God^s righteousness and a just retribution of her 
sins. What a verification it will form of his supre- 
macy, his holiness, and his truth ! And what impres- 
sions will it make on those of God^s people who sur- 
vive ! What a confutation of her impious claims that 
she is the church of God, the bride of Christ, and of 
supreme authority in religion, will tlie avenging 
thunderbolts by which she is dashed to perdition 



368 THE SONG OF TRIUMPH OVER HER 

form ! And what a riddance to the world w^ill her 
extinction he felt to be ! 

Her destruction, accordingly, as though in response 
to the apostrophe. Chap, xviii. 20, is immediately 
followed by ascriptions of righteousness and glory 
to God in heaven, and a summons to the inhabitants 
of the earth to fear and praise him. " After these, I 
heard as it were a loud voice of a great multitude in 
heaven, saying. Alleluia! The salvation, and the 
glory, and the power of our God ! For true and 
righteous are his judgments ; for he has judged the 
great harlot, that corrupted the earth with her forni- 
cation ; and has avenged the blood of his servants 
from her hand. And again they said, Alleluia ! lind 
her smoke ascends through the ages of ages. And 
the four and twenty elders, and the four living crea- 
tures, fell and worshipped God who sat on the throne, 
saying, Amen : Alleluia. 

" And a voice came from the throne sa34ng. Praise 
our God, all ye his servants, and ye who fear him, 
small and great. And I heard as it were a voice of 
a great multitude, and as a voice of many waters, and 
as a voice of mighty thunders, saying : Alleluia ; for 
the Lord God Almighty has reigned. Let us rejoice 
and exult, and give glory to him ; for the marriage 
of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared 
herself." Chap. xix. 1-7. As the voice from heaven 
was addressed to servants of God who are divided 
into the two classes of small and great, which are pe- 
culiarities of human beings, it is to be s^ooken to men. 



sig:n^s of Christ's approach. 369 

Their response therefore implies that the people of 
God universally are, at this epoch, to know that Christ 
has assumed the sceptre of the world, and that he is 
about to raise his saints from the grave, and exalt 
them to their stations as kings and priests in his 
kingdom, which is the event denoted by his consti- 
tuting them his bride. They will look accordingly 
for his speedily appearing to destroy the wild beast 
and its armies, who will be gathered to contend with 
him at Armageddon. " Behold I come as a thief. 
Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, 
lest he walk naked and they see his shame. ^^ 

Before his advent, hov\^ever, there are to be signs 
in heaven, that are to indicate his approach. *' I will 
show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood 
and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned 
into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the 
great and the terrible day of the Lord comes.'' Joel 
ii. 30, 31. " And there shall be signs in the sun, and 
in the moon, and in the stars ; and upon the earth 
distress of nations with perplexity ; the sea and the 
waves roaring ; men's hearts failing them for fear, 
and for looking after those things which are coming 
on the earth ; for the powers of heaven shall be sha- 
ken. And then shall they see the Son of Man com- 
ing in a cloud with power and great glory." Luke 
xxi. 25-27, Matt. xxiv. 29, 30. At length the light 
of his glory is to flash on the world, and all eyes are 
to see him descending Avith his infinife train of atten- 
dants, and all hearts tremble at his majestv and 

16-^ 



370 SIGNS OF Christ's approach. 

power. Such are tlie great events that are to pre- 
cede and herald Christ's coming : such is the cer- 
tainty that it is to take place under the seventh 
trumpet and seventh vial at the commencement of 
his thousand year's reign. 



PROPHETIC PERIODS OF DANIEL AND JOHN. 371 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

THE PROPHETIC PERIODS OF THE APOCALYPSE AND DANIEL. 

Nearly all the recent expositors of Daniel and 
John, whether Millenarian or Anti-millenarian, re- 
gard the times of the domination of the powers de- 
noted by the ten-horned wild beast, the testimony 
of the witnesses in sackcloth, and the wearing out of 
the saints by the eleventh horn of the beast, as to 
terminate not far from the present period. Some 
writers, twenty or thirty years ago, assigned their 
end with great confidence to 1843 and 1847, and have 
not only been confuted by events, but have thrown, 
by their misjudgment and rashness, much discredit 
on the study of the prophetic Scriptures. A far 
greater number have referred their close to 1864, 
1866, or 1868, and others still to 1880. The near ap- 
proach of those periods, renders it peculiarly impor- 
tant that the grounds on which they are held by their 
advocates to be the time when the twelve hundred 
and sixty years shall end, should be carefully exam- 
ined, and the people of God — if that view is mista- 
ken — put on their guard against a disappoiiitnient. 



372 ERROES OF WRITERS IN REGARD TO 

The defeat of a confident expectation entertained by 
a large part of the evangelical church, of the fall of 
the antichristian powers in 1864, 1866, 1868, or 1880, 
would give a dangerous shock to many, and drive 
them into perplexity, discouragement, and unbelief. 
There are several errors in their constructions who 
fix on those dates, which it is important should be 
corrected. 

I. Som^e of them found their calculations in a mea- 
sure on passages that are not symbolical of time, 
and have no reference to the present age of the world. 
Thus Mr. Faber assumes that a prophetic period of 
seven times symbolizing 2520 years, is indicated in 
Daniel as the duration of the four great Gentile mo- 
narchies represented by the image and the beasts, 
and makes that assumption the basis of his prophetic 
chronology, attempts to fix its commencement and its 
middle point, and speculates and reasons in regard 
to it, as though it were one of the most indubitable 
and important elements of the prophecy. It is alto- 
gether, however, the work of his fancy. No such sym- 
bolic period is mentioned by the prophet. The only 
instance in which the expression ''seven times'^ is used 
by him, is in Nebuchadnezzar's vision of the great tree ; 
and it is there used to denote the period of the seven 
literal years during w^hich that monarch was to be 
driven from his throne and capital, and live with the 
beasts of the field. This is clear from the interpreta- 
tion of the dream revealed to Daniel, which exhibits 
the tree as the symbol of Nebuchadnezzar only ; not 



CHRONOLOGICAL PREDICTIONS. 373 

of his and the other great Gentile dynasties ; the 
hewing down of the tree as representing his being 
driven from his throne and people to dwell with the 
beasts of the field : the seven times as signifying the 
seven years of his continuing in that degraded state ; 
and the preservation of the stump of the tree, as de- 
noting the preservation of his kingdom, for restora- 
tion to him, on his recovering his reason, and recog- 
nizing his subordination to Jehovah. Mr. Faber^s 
theory is therefore a sheer invention, without any 
authority from the prophecy. The effect conse- 
quently of his asserting it with confidence, and giv- 
ing it a conspicuous place in his Calendar of Pro- 
phecy, has been to discredit his judgment, and lead 
the critical reader to feel that, without a careful ex- 
amination of his grounds, little reliance is to be placed 
on his constructions. The Eev. E. B. Elliott also 
falls into the same error, and founds it expressly on 
the seven times, that were the measure of Nebuchad- 
nezzar^s deprivation of his throne and reason. 

Erroneous chronological calculations have also been 
founded on the hour, and day, and month, and year, 
Eev. ix. 15, on the assumption that they are symbols 
of the duration of the Turkish woe ; they, however, 
simply denote the commencement, or at most the 
period of the slaughters, which were to be inflicted by 
the armies under the command of those denoted by 
the angels. ^' And the four angels were loosed, who 
had been prepared for the hour and day, and month 
and year, that they might slay a third of the men." 



374 ERRORS IN RESPECT TO THE BEGINNING OP 

But the slaughters were not commensurate with the 
woe. They were chiefly confined to the four periods 
of invasion and conquest, under the leaders denoted 
by the four angels. The woe has continued without 
intermission for eight centuries. 

11. Writers have fallen into important errors also 
in respect to the events which they regard as deter- 
mining the commencement of the twelve hundred and 
sixty years. 

Thus Mr. Cunninghame and many others date that 
period from the letter of Justinian in A. D. 533, in 
which he addressed Pope John II. as the head of all 
the holy churches and all the holy priests ; on the 
assumption that it thereby conveyed to the Roman 
bishop the supremacy which it ascribed to him, and 
was thence a delivery of the saints, the times, and 
the laws into his hands. But that is a mistake. The 
letter confers no authority whatever on the pope ; 
nor do any of its expressions imply that the patriarch 
of Rome was held to be the head of the church in any 
other sense than that his patriarchate had the prece- 
dence in rank and honor of the others, and that har- 
mony with it was deemed necessary in order to the 
unity of the church. The letter relates exclusively 
to the churches of the eastern empire, and the empe- 
ror's object in it was, to make known to the bishop 
of Rome on the one hand, what the doctrines were 
that were maintained in those churches by the impe- 
rial authority ; and on the other, what the heresies 
were that were denounced and repressed by it, and 



THE TWELVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY YEARS. 375 

to ask of him an expression of his concurrence in 
those doctrines and measures ; not that the pope had 
any more authority over the doctrines of the church, 
or the church itself, than Justinian himself had, but 
only that the emperor might use the pope's judgment 
to corroborate his own, and command the acquiescence 
of his subjects in the faith he was enforcing."^ 

Nor could Justinian, had he attempted it, have con- 
ferred any authority on the pope over the churches 
of the western empire ; as that empire was no longer 
under his dominion, but had passed under the juris- 
diction of the Goths. He had not a solitary inch of 
territory, nor a subject in Italy, the northern coast of 
Africa, or the kingdoms west and north of the Alps. 
To have affected to confer on the pope authority over 
the churches and people of those regions, would have 
been an invasion of the prerogatives claimed by the 
western monarchs, and a mockery. The whole fancy 
therefore that the letter was a decree, that it invested 
the pope with supreme authority over all the churches 
of the ten kingdoms of the west, which is the sphere 
of his agency, and that it determines the date of the 
delivery of the saints into his hands, is mistaken. To 
assign that ofSce to it, is as groundless as it were to 
ascribe it to any other letter from Justinian, or impe- 
rial decree, in which no allusion is made to the church 
of Rome. 

Others regard the letter of Phocas, emperor of 
Constantinople, to Boniface iii. in A. D. GOG, as con- 
* Labbei Concilia, torn. viii. pp. 795, 79G. 



376 ERRORS RESPECTING THE BEGINNING AND END 

stituting the bisliop of Rome the head of the church, 
and deUvering the saints, and laws, and times, into 
his hands : but that is equally mistaken. Phocas 
had no authority to deliver the churches and people 
of the western empire into the hands of the pope, 
for he had no jurisdiction over them any more than 
his predecessor Justinian. His jurisdiction at the 
west, was confined to the exarchate of Ravenna, and 
was there so slight that Gregory the Great two years 
before the emperor's letter, had made peace with the 
Lombards, without the assent of the Byzantine court. 
Every other part of the western empire was wholly 
independent of the Greeks. As Phocas, therefore, 
had no authority over the churches and people of 
the west, he could not, had he attempted it, have 
conferred on Boniface any right or power over them. 
But Phocas made no attempt to confer any authority 
on the Roman pontiff. He only in a letter written as 
was customary in answer to a notification of the 
elevation of Boniface to the papal seat, stated 
and promised that the title universal should be ap- 
plied to the bishop of Rome alone — not to the bishop 
of Constantinople. Professus sit solum Romanum Pon- 
tificem esse dicendum CEcumenicum, nempe Univer- 
salem Episcopum ; Constantinopolitanum nequa- 
quam. Id quidem ipsum Bonifacium ab eo obti- 
nuisse, Anastasius his verbis testatur. Hie, inquit, 
obtinuit apudPhocam Principem, ut sedes apostolica 
beati Petri apostoli, caput esset omnium Ecclesiarum, 
id est, Romana ecclesia ; quia ecclesia Constantino- 



OF THE TWELVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY YEARS. 377 

politana primam se omnium Ecclesiarum scribebat."^ 
'* He promised that the Roman PontiJff alone should be 
called ecumenical, that is universal bishop : the Con- 
stantinopolitan should not. The language of Anas- 
tasius who relates it, is, He obtained from the 
emperor Phocas that the apostolic seat, that is the 
Roman church, should be head of all the churches, 
and because the Constantinopolitan church had 
claimed that title." But that title was not then first 
applied to the Roman church. It had been claimed 
and assumed by the pontiffs, often and long before. 
The letter of Phocas accordingly conferred no 
authority, but only sanctioned the exclusive use ot 
a title it had long arrogated, and which then meant 
little more than that the Roman church had the prece- 
dence in rank and authority of all others. It is w^holly 
mistaken, therefore, to regard the emperor's letter as 
a decree, delivering the saints, the times, and the 
laws into the pope's hands, and determining the com- 
mencement of the twelve hundred and sixty years. 

III. Another important error into which many 
writers have fallen, is the assumption that the termi- 
nation of the twelve hundred and sixty years, is to bo 
the epoch of Christ's second advent, and the wild 
beast's destruction. The twelve hundred and sixty 
years, however, instead of being the measure of the 
wild beast's life, is only the measure of its career in 
the form it assumed on the* fall of the seventh head, 
and the transferrence of the crowns from the heads 
* Baronii. Annal., torn. viii. pp. 19S. 



378 THE ACTS BY WHICH THE SAINTS 

to the horns. It is the beast as he rose from the sea, 
Rev. xiii. 1, in its form under the supremacy of the 
horns, or Gothic dynasties, to which power was given 
to act forty and two months, and make war with the 
saints and overcome them. But after it has fallen in 
that form, it is to rise again out of hades, in another 
shape, run a short career as a blasphemer and perse- 
cutor in alliance with the Roman church, and then 
go to perdition. In that last form it is to be under 
the sway of an eighth imperial chief, and the ten 
kings of that period are to be subordinate to that 
chief, and give their power to him.^' Rev. xvii. 11- 
12. The end of the twelve hundred and sixty years 
then, is not to be the epoch of Christ^s coming and 
the final destruction of the wild beast. It is still to 
subsist in a modified form, and make war with the 
Lamb, to intercept him from assuming the sceptre 
of the world ; and it is in that impious attempt that 
it is to perish. How long its career in that shape is 
to continue, must be left to the event to determine. 
It is not improbably through the thirty years that are 
to intervene between twelve hundred and sixty, and 
twelve hundred and ninety. That period is to be 
signalized by the sealing probably of the servants of 
God, the proclamation of the gospel to all nations, 
and the overthrow of Babylon, and is to be closed by 
the coming of Christ and destruction of the powers 
denoted by the wild beast, false prophet, and their 
armies. 

Setting aside these errors then, let us inquire what 



WERE DELIVERED TO THE PAPACY. 379 

the act was of the delivery of the saints into the power 
of the eleventh horn, who the agent was of that de- 
livery, and when it took place. 

TV, What then was the nature of the act by which 
the saints were delivered into the power of the little 
horn which was to wear them out, and think to 
change times and laws ? Its nature and source are 
seen from the nature and source of the power by 
which the papacy denoted hj the horn, persecutes 
and has persecuted the saints of the Most High in 
the ten kingdoms through a long series of ages. 
That power is, and has been at every stage of its 
exercise, derived from the civil government. The 
papal hierarchy has had authority and power to 
persecute dissentients from its faith, only when 
the civil governments of those kingdoms refused 
to tolerate and protect dissentients, and made 
their non-submission to the Roman church a crim- 
inal offense. Whenever the civil government of 
any of those kingdoms has tolerated and protected 
dissent, then the Catholic hierarchy has lost the 
power to persecute non-romanists in that kingdom. 
The power of the church to persecute is thus de- 
rived wholly from the civil government ; and neces- 
sarily, because the civil government alone has power 
over the property, the persons, and the life of its 
subjects. To subject to a forfeiture of property, to 
inflict corporeal punishment, to deprive of personal 
freedom, to consign to death, is the prerogative 
alone of civil rulers. By what act w^as it then, that 



380 THE ACTS BY WHICH THE SAIXTS 

the civil governments of tlie ten Idngdoms gave to 
the papacy the power to persecute the disciples of 
Christ in their respective jurisdictions? By the acts 
by which those governments legalized the Catholic 
hierarchy in their dominions, gave it the exclusive 
right to teach, ofter worship, and administer disci- 
pline, and made dissent from it a criminal offense : 
and they were the acts of the nationahzation of the 
Eomish church in their kingdoms and establishment 
of the papal as the State religion. In that legaliza- 
tion of the Romish church, those governments as- 
sumed on the one hand, that it belonged to their 
office to decide for their subjects what religion they 
ought to exercise, and to command and constrain 
them to embrace and exercise that religion ; which 
was in effect to claim that the rights and laws of God 
himself were under their jurisdiction, and could be 
invested with authority or annulled at their will. 
On the other hand, they assumed that the Roman 
Catholic religion of their time, which was in fact an 
apostasy from Christianity to the homage of the 
mass, the worship of images and relics, and the 
deification of saints, was the true religion, and was 
obligatory on them and their subjects, and that the 
pope and the hierarchies of that church were the 
authorized expositors of its doctrines and duties. 
They held accordingly that all dissent from the 
doctrines and rites of that church, and all denials of 
the right of its priests to determine authoritatively 
what true reli^'ion is, and make their faith and will 



WERE DELIVERED TO THE PAPACY. 381 

the law, is a dissent from Christianity itself, and a 
denial of its authority and truth ; and is a crime just- 
ly and needfully punished by the civil law. 

The monarchs of the ten kingdoms were led to this 
arrogation of authority over Christianity and the 
faith and worship of their subjects, by the example 
of their predecessors, the Roman emperors, as is 
foreshown Rev. xiii. 2. The dragon which was the 
symbol of the rulers of the Roman empire down to 
the fall of the western throne, and of the rulers of the 
eastern empire from that time to its overthrow by 
the Turks, gave, it is said, to the wild beast the sym- 
bol of the Gothic rulers of the ten kingdoms, " its 
power and throne, and great authority :" that is, in 
the surrender by the emperor of the west of his ter- 
ritories and sceptre to the Gothic kings, he yielded 
and transferred to them all the imagined rights and 
prerogatives over his subjects which he had himself 
asserted and exercised : and they, after his example, 
assumed that among them was the right of legalizing 
the Roman Catholic religion, and enforcing it on their 
subjects. And this assumption of authority, as was fore- 
shown in the same prophecy. Chap. xiii. 12, was jus- 
tified and urged as a duty by the Catholic church. 
The two-horned wild beast — which is the symbol of 
the civil and ecclesiastical hierarchy of the Roman 
state — "exercises,'^ it is said, "all the authority of 
the first wild beast, and causes the earth and {^11 wlio 
inhabit it to pay a religious homage to the first beast 
whose deadly woimd was healed ; namely, the dra- 



382 THE ACTS BY WHICH THE SAINTS 

gon beast, the symbol of the rulers of the ancient Ro- 
man empire . That religious homage or worship by the 
people of the rulers of the old empire, was their as- 
sent to the arrogation by those rulers of authority 
over Christianity, and the right to dictate to their 
subjects what doctrines they should accept as the 
doctrines of Christianity, what worship they should 
offer, and what teachers they should receive as of 
power to determine their faith and practice, and dis- 
pense to them the blessings of pardon and salvation. 
And this prediction, the bishop and hierarchy of the 
Roman sta-te verified. They taught, at the institu- 
tion of the Gothic kingdoms — and have in every sub- 
sequent age — that it is the right and duty of the 
civil rulers to legislate over the faith and worship of 
their subjects, and determine their religion, and that 
the religion they were to legalize and enforce, was 
that of the Catholic church : and in order to give 
effect to their teachings, they wrought false miracles, 
as the prophecy foreshows. Chap. xiii. 13-16, to con- 
vince the rulers and people that the Roman priests 
w^ere the true and authoritative ministers of God : 
and induced them to make an image to the dragon- 
beast, infused a living spirit into that image, and 
caused that all who would not yield it implicit hom- 
age and submission should be put to death. The 
erection of an image to the first or dragon-beast, 
denotes the erection of the Catholic hierarchies 
of the ten western kingdoms into one federative 
hierarchy, with the pope at its head ; and the infu- 



WERE DELIVERED TO THE PAPACY. 383 

sion of a spirit into the image, and the power of 
speech by the two-horned beast, symbolizes the im- 
putation by the priesthood of the Eoman state to the 
Catholic church at large represented by the image, 
of the right and power to determine the faith and 
rites of the people of the ten kingdoms, and give 
their decrees the authority of laws ; while the gift to 
the image of the power of causing that all who would 
not worship the image should be put to death, signi- 
fies the attribution and gift to the hierarchy of the 
Eoman church of power to enforce its decrees by 
persecution and death. And this prophecy of the 
agency of the dragon and the two-horned beast has 
been most conspicuously fulfilled. It was because 
the emperors of the old Roman empire from Constan- 
tino to Augustulus had arrogated the right of legaliz- 
ing the church, and enforcing the doctrines and claims 
of its priesthood on their subjects, that that right was 
assumed by the Gothic kings, their successors in the 
west. The monarchs of the ten kingdoms simply 
usurped the power over the church and over reli- 
gion, which they regarded themselves as having 
gained from the Roman emperors by conquest. And 
the hierarchy of the Roman state, symbolized by the 
two-horned beast, maintained that the rulers of the 
ancient empire had the authority over Christianity 
and the church which they arrogated. And the pope 
and his agents induced the nations of the west to 
place their hierarchies under the doniinlou ol iho 
Eoman pontiff, so as to form them into one va^-t or- 



384 THE ACTS BY WHICH THE SAINTS 

ganization, with the pope as its chief, in much the 
same way that all the subordinate organizations of 
the ancient empire were united in one political struc- 
ture, with the emperor as its head. And the pontiff 
taught this great hierarchy to claim universal sub- 
mission to its will, and to cause that those who would 
not obey its behests, should be put to death. No 
facts in the history of the Catholic church are more 
notorious and indubitable than these. The pope be- 
gan to claim authority over the whole Catholic com- 
munity immediately after the nationalization of the 
Romish church in Italy by the Lombards. He and his 
hierarchy have asserted the right through all the 
ages that have followed, of dictating to the nations 
their faith and worship, and demanding that the civil 
rulers should recognize their authority and enforce 
their decrees ; and they have denounced a non-com- 
pliance with their will as a capital crime, and used 
the civil governments as the instruments of inflicting 
forfeitures, imprisonment, torture and death on their 
victims. 

It is clear, therefore, that the acts by which the 
saints were delivered into the hands of the. papacy, 
were the acts of the civil rulers by which the Catho- 
lic hierarchies were legalized, and the Romish reli- 
gion made the religion of the state ; as it has been in 
consequence of that legalization and through the con- 
currence and agency of the civil governments, that 
the persecutions by which the saints have been worn 
out have been carried on. Had there been no civil 



WERE DELIVERED TO THE PAPACY. 385 

establishment of either the Catholic or the Protes- 
tant church in the ten kingdoms, and no arrogation 
of the right to legislate over religion itself and the 
chnrch, there would have been no persecution ; and 
had there been no legalization of one denomination to 
the exclusion of others, there would have been no 
power by which the intolerant and persecuting de- 
crees of a church against dissentients could have been 
enforced by fines, imprisonment and death ; as none 
but civil rulers have the power to punish with those 
inflictions. 

Y. "When then was it that the Catholic hierarchies 
were thus nationalized, by the civil governments of 
the ten kingdoms, so that the Romish priesthood with 
the pope as its head, claimed the exclusive right to 
teach the Christian religion and off'er worship, in the 
western empire, and attempted to enforce their 
claims by persecuting dissentients by the arm of the 
civil governments ? The exact time of the complete 
legalization of the Catholic church is not known, but 
was near the close of the sixth, or beginning of the 
seventh century. The first monarch w^ho embraced 
Christianity and nationalized the church, was Clovis, 
King of the Franks, who acknowledged and legalized 
the Catholics, and became their patron in A. D. 499. 
Others followed at different periods ; the King of 
the Swevi in Gallicia in 569 ; the King of the Goths 
in Spain in 589 ; the King of the Lombards, who then 
held the whole of Italy except tlie territory of the 
exarchate of Eavenna, in 591 ; and Ethelbert of Eng- 



386 THE TIME WHEN THE SAINTS 

land, the last in the train, somewhere near the close 
of the century, or early in the next. He was baptized 
in the spring of 597, and in December of that year 
ten thousand of his subjects received the rite. He 
did not, however, attempt by authority to force his 
people to embrace his new faith, but left them to de- 
cide for themselves. 

In 601, Pope Gregory sent the pallium to Augus- 
tine, who had been ordained bishop, — and authorized 
him to institute two bishoprics in England and install 
twenty-four diocesan bishops ; and in 605, Ethelbert 
made donations to Augustine, the archbishop of Can- 
terbury, and his associates, and formally acknowledged 
the pope's assumed authority over the Catholic 
church by invoking him to excommunicate whoever 
should violate the conditions of his gifts. That these 
acts involved a nationalization of the church for the 
time, there can be little doubt. In 604, the King of 
Essex also embraced the Catholic faith and received 
a bishop to his capital. On the death, however, of 
Ethelbert, in 616, Eadbald, his successor, drove the 
bishop of Canterbury from his kingdom, and the sons 
of the King of Essex, then also dead, expelled the 
bishop from their territory and threatened a re-estab- 
lishment of paganism. But ere the year closed they 
recalled the banished prelates, and the Catholic reli- 
gion thereafter maintained its position in those king- 
doms as the state religion. In the same year Edwin, 
King of Northumberland, and a pagan, became the 
head of the heptarchy. It does not appear, however, 



WERE DELIVERED TO THE PAPACY. 387 

that he offered any obstruction to the Catholics in the 
other kingdoms, and in A. D. 626 he embraced the 
faith of the church, and from that period the Catholic 
continued to be the religion of the state. 

Within this period then, from A. D. 597, to 626, 
there is no doubt the Catholic church was national- 
ized in England ; and we think its most probable date 
was A. D. 602, when Augustine (who had been or- 
dained a bishop) receiving the pallium from Gregory 
was constituted archbishop of Canterbury, with au- 
thority to institute another archbishopric, and was 
recognized by Ethelbert in that character. It is 
certain that in that year or the next he held a synod 
with the assent of the king, in which he asserted the 
jurisdiction of the Eoman church over the bishops 
and churches of the native Britons, and denounced 
the judgments of God on them for their refusal to 
submit to his authority. Ethelbert also recognized 
and legalized the Catholic church by enacting laws 
for the protection of its property, and the property 
of its ministers, which indicated that he regarded 
their rights as peculiarly sacred.^ 

The Saxon kings were the last to embrace the Ro- 
mish religion. On its nationalization in England, it 
was established throughout the ten kingdoms. It 
would not be certain, however, if that was the date 
of its complete nationalization, that it was the date 
also of the twelve hundred and sixty years ; unless 

* Labbei Concilia, torn. x. pp. 491-499. Baronii. torn. viii. pp. 
190, 191. 



388 THE TIME WHEN THE SAINTS 

it had begun to persecute immediately on the delivery 
of the saints into its hands ; inasmuch as the twelve 
hundred and sixty years appear to be the measure 
of the persecution of the saints. Thus the witnesses 
are to be in sackcloth during the thousand two hun- 
dred and three-score days of their prophesying; which 
indicates that they are to be in great humiliation and 
sorrow from the opposition of those against whom 
they are to testify. The forty and two months of the 
Gentiles' treading the holy city, are forty and two 
months during which they are to assert and exercise 
an absolute dominion over it, to the exclusion of the 
true worshippers. The time, times, and half a time 
during w^hich the woman was to be nourished in the 
wilderness, were times in which her safety depended 
on her seclusion from the face of the serpent. And 
the forty and two months during which power was 
given to the ten-horned wild beast to act, appear to 
be months in which he opened his mouth in blas- 
phemy against God's name, his tabernacle, and his 
redeemed in heaven, and made war with the saints. 
Eev. xi. 2, 3 ; xii. 14 ; xiii. 5-7. There is little 
doubt, however, that the twelve hundred and sixty 
years of the repression and persecution of the saints 
date from the period of the complete nationalization 
of the church. Laws had several years before been 
enacted in a number of the kingdoms, subjecting 
those who refused submission to the priesthood to 
forfeitures of property, and to exile ; and the most 
zealous and imperious claims were asserted by Greg- 



WERE DELIVERED TO THE PAPACY. 389 

ory the Great from his accession to the papal seat, 
to the submission of the whole western church to his 
authority^ and the most strenuous efforts made to re- 
press those who were called heretics, and force them 
to renounce their peculiar doctrines and worship, 
and yield obedience to the Catholic church. It is 
probable, therefore, that the wearing out of the saints 
by the little horn, commenced with their delivery 
into its hands by the nationalization of the Catholic 
hierarchies. What the exact date of either was, 
however, cannot be absolutely determined. We only 
know that it was probably the first or second year 
of the seventh century, and that, at the most, it can 
have been but a few years later. 

VI. But what is the relation of these twelve hun- 
dred and sixty days, to the twenty-three hundred 
days of Daniel viii. 14 ; the time, times and dividing 
of time of Dan. vii. 25 ; and the time, times and a 
half ; the twelve hundred and ninety days ; and the 
thousand three hundred and thirty-five days of Dan. 
xii. 7-11, 12? It is held by some commentators that 
the twenty-three hundred days of Dan. viii. 11, are 
to terminate at the same time, as the time, times and 
a half, and the twelve hundred and sixty days of Dan. 
xii. 7-11, and the forty-two months of Rev. xiii. 5. 
That however is very far from being certain or pro- 
bable ; as the event with wdiich they are to termiiiak\ 
is not the fall of the ten-horned beast in the form in 
which it rose from the sea, Rev. xiii. l-G, but tlio 
cleansing of the sanctuary : by Avhicli is meant, tlio 



390 THE RELATION TO EACH OTHER 

expulsion of the mass as the expiation for sin, from 
the church, and the restoration of Christ's sacrifice 
to its proper place in the faith of the worshippers of 
God. Others have supposed that the event denoted 
by the taking away of the daily sacrifice, was the 
literal interception of the daily sacrifice at Jerusalem 
by the destruction of the temple and exile of the Jews 
by the Romans in a. d. 70 ; and thence have supposed 
that the twelve hundred and sixty years ended in a. d. 
1330, and the twelve hundred and ninety in 1360. But 
that is wholly mistaken. The vision is symbolic ; and as 
the ram, the goat, and their horns signify the Persian 
and Greek powers and their monarchs, and the little 
horn that sprang out of one of the four horns of the 
goat, the Roman power ; so the host of heaven, the 
sanctuary, the daily sacrifice, and the cleansing of the 
sanctuary, signify things diff'ering from themselves. 
The little horn is the Roman power which, after es- 
tablishing itself in Macedonia, extended its conquests 
over the whole of w^hat had been the eastern and 
southern Grecian empire. The host or stars of 
heaven against which it waxed great, and cast them 
to the ground, denote the true ministers of the Chris- 
tian church ; the prince of the host against whom it 
magnified itself by the usurpation of his rights and 
throne, is the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the re- 
deemed church ; the daily sacrifice which it took 
away symbolized the sacrifice of Christ as the expia- 
tion of sin ; and its being taken away, denotes its re- 
jection by the papacy, and the substitution in its 



OF THE DIFFERENT PROPHETIC PERIODS. 391 

place of the sacrifice of the mass ; and the sanctuary, 
the place of the offering of the Jewish sacrifices, re- 
presents the places of the worship of. Christian be- 
lievers who put their faith for pardon in the sacrifice 
of Christ. The cleansing accordingly of the sanctu- 
ary, which is the event that is to mark the close of 
the twenty-three hundred days, is to be a discontinu- 
ance of the mass, and the restoration of Christ's sac- 
rifice to the faith of the ministers universally, and 
members of the church as their trust for expiation 
and pardon ; and that will take place at the destruc- 
tion of Babylon the great, the symbol of the Catholic 
priesthood, who are the offerers of the mass. But 
Babylon is to fall and be destroyed after the fall of 
the ten-horned beast in its first form, and its rise out 
of hades in the shape in which it is to go to perdi- 
tion ; as is seen from Rev. xvii. 3-14 ; in which the 
woman Babylon appears seated on the wild beast 
after its emergence from the abyss in its last form. 
If, therefore, the forty-two months of the beast that 
was and is not, is the measure of its career before it 
falls and rises in its last shape, then the cleansing of 
the sanctuary at the end of the twenty-three hun- 
dred days, is to take place after that period. It is 
indeed stated, Dan. xii. 11, that " from the time that 
the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomi- 
nation that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a 
thousand two hundred and ninety days,'' that is be- 
fore that abomination shall be removed, and the expi- 
ation symbolized by the daily sacrifice, restored. 



392 THE RELATION TO EACH OTHER 

The twenty-three hundred days, therefore, are to 
terminate with the twelve hundred and ninety — not 
with the twelve hundred and sixty. 

It is indicated also, Dan. xii. 6, 7, that the end of 
the calamities and deliverance foreshown to the pro- 
phet, is to take place later than the close of the 
twelve hundred and sixty years. " And one said to 
the man clothed in linen who was upon the waters 
of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these 
wonders ? And I heard the man clothed in linen 
who was upon the waters of the river, where he held 
up his right and his left hand unto heaven, and sware 
by him that liveth forever, that it shall be for a time, 
times and a half, and when he shall have accom- 
plished the scattering (that is ended the dispersion) 
of the holy people, all these shall be finished.^' The 
end is thus to be not only after the close of the 
twelve hundred and sixty years, but also after the 
dispersion of the Israelites is ended ; that is, after 
the time for their return has arrived, and they have 
in a measure re-established themselves in their an- 
cestral land. The events, moreover, the accomplish- 
ment of which is to constitute the end, are to be tne 
coming of Christ, the destruction of the wild beast, 
the deliverance of his people, and the resurrection 
of the holy dead. For it is expressly predicted that 
the time when the power denoted by the wilful king, 
Dan. xi. 45, who is the same as the imperial person- 
age symbolized by the beast in his last form. Rev. 
xvii. 11, comes to his end, is to be the time when 



OF THE DIFFERENT PROPHETIC PERIODS. 393 

Michael the great prince, the Messiah, shall stand 
for the Israelites, and deliver them, and many that 
sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake to ever- 
lasting life. It is foreshown also, Zech. xiv. 1-5, that 
the coming of Christ with his saints, is to take place 
when the Israelites shall have partially returned to 
their national land, and the antichristian armies shall 
attempt to drive them again into exile ; and Rev. 
xix. 11-25, that the destruction of the wild beast is 
to take place at Christ's second coming. Its de- 
struction is accordingly to be at least as late as the 
close of the twelve hundred and ninety days. It is 
to subsist, therefore, thirty years, (the period doubt- 
less following its emergence out of the abyss,) af- 
ter the expiration of its twelve hundred and sixty 
years. 

The forty-five years that are to follow — making the 
thirteen hundred and thirty-five, are probably to be 
occupied in the judgment of the living, the complete 
restoration of the Israelites, and the conversion of the 
nations. 

VII. From these considerations it is apparent that 
the exact date of the twelve hundred and sixty years 
is not known ; nor, consequently, the time of their 
termination. It is clearly revealed, however, that 
their end is not to be the period of the extinction of 
the wild-beast, nor the coming of Christ. They are 
to be at least thirty years later. 

It is clear, also, from several prophecies. Matt. xxiv. 

36-39, 1 Thess. v. 2, 2 Peter iii. 10, that the day of 

17-^ 



394 THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE TO BE AWARE 

Christ's coming is not to be certainly known until he 
appears in the clouds. The only signal of his imme- 
diate approach is to be the darkening of the sun and 
moon, and fall of the stars, the object and effect of 
which will be to give his advent the greatest possible 
resplendence. Every ray of light from the heavenly 
orbs being intercepted, and the earth wrapped in 
absolute darkness, his glory will shine with a dazzling 
effulgence, and attract every eye and awe every 
heart. 

The people of God, however, though not foreknow- 
ing the exact day of his coming, are undoubtedly to 
be generally aware that it is nigh. The proclamation 
by the angel flying through mid-heaven having the 
everlasting gospel to preach, that the hour of God's 
judgment is at hand, shows that the messengers 
whom the angel represents who are to make that an- 
nouncement to all the nations of the earth, are to be 
aware that his coming is nigh. The parable of the 
ten virgins also indicates that believers generally 
will be looking for his speedy coming, although a 
large share of them w^ill not prepare themselves for 
it. And the occurrence of the great events that are 
immediately to precede it, such as the fall of the per- 
secuting governments of the ten kingdoms, and the 
rise of others of a worse character in their place, the 
persecution, martyrdom, and resurrection of the wit- 
nesses, the communication of the gospel to all nations, 
the fall of Babylon, the return of a portion of the 
Jews and re-establishment of themselves in their na- 



THAT Christ's coming is nigh. 395 

tional land, will naturally impress all who receive the 
Scriptures as the word of God, with th^ feeling that 
the daj of Christ's coming is at hand. 

The years that are approaching are to be marked 
by great and extraordinary occurrences that will awe 
and agitate the nations of Christendom in a measure 
they have not hitherto known. How soon that revo- 
lution of the governments of the western kingdoms, 
which is denoted by the descent of the ten-horned 
wild beast into the abyss, is to take place, cannot be 
foreseen. It may be within a few years. It may be 
at the distance of quite a number. When it takes 
place, and the beast rises in its final form from the 
pit, a momentous change will be wrought in the con- 
dition of its subjects. The papacy will be restored 
to exclusive nationalization ; persecution will be re- 
sumed ; and an attempt made either to drive those 
who hold the true faith to apostasy, or to exterminate 
them by the sword ; for it is expressly foretold that 
this persecution of the witnesses is to be by the wild 
beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit — that is 
hades — in distinction from the beast that ascended 
out of the sea. Rev. xi. 7. The resurrection of the 
martyrs and assumption to heaven at the time fore- 
told, in the presence of vast multitudes, will defeat 
that aim, and carry a resistless conviction to millions 
that they are the true worshippers of God, and that 
the state church which arraigned and martyred them, 
is a false church. Under the vehement disgust and 
indignation which that discovery is to excite, the 



396 THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE TO BE AWARE 

people are to denationalize the Catholic church, and 
at a later day strike her from existence. Roused 
from their false beliefs and lethargy by these great 
events, and led to search the divine word afresh to learn 
the purposes of God respecting the world, and receive 
the great doctrine of Christ's coming and reign, they 
will engage with one heart in the work of heralding 
his approach to the nations by proclaiming to them 
his gospel, and warning them that the hour of his 
judgment has come. After the destruction of Baby- 
lon, the imperial chief of the empire w^ill institute, it 
is intimated in Dan. xi. 36-45, a still worse form of 
false religion, and will crush the disciples of Christ 
with new persecutions, and at length make war on 
the Lamb himself, by attempting to drive the Israel- 
ites, w^ho will have returned to Palestine, again into 
exile, and intercepting him from the establishment 
of his throne there. These and the other great events 
that are to attend them, the discrimination of the true 
worshippers from the false, denoted by the sealing of 
the servants of God ; the judgments which are to 
smite the nations, and fill them with terror and do 
spair ; and the awful forms of malice and impiety in 
which the passions of men are to display themselves, 
are to make the period one of unexampled excitement, 
agitation, and alarm ; bringing the true worshippers 
into the most intimate relations to God, and raising 
them to eminent watchfulness, faith, love, and hope ; 
and confounding, and exasperating his enemies, and 
leading them to show the depth of their alienation 



THAT CHRIST^S COMING IS NIGH. 397 

and hostility by the violence of their efforts to crush 
his cause and extricate themselves from his power. 

In the prospect of these fearful scenes, it becomes 
the disciples of Christ to take heed to his counsels and 
watch for his coming, lest they be found unprepared. 
It is given as a distinguishing mark of those who 
will then be ready for admission to his kingdom, that 
they will be expecting his advent, and will have his 
name graven on their foreheads, and like the wise 
virgins who had oil in their vessels, be ready to join 
his triumphal train. It is given as the mark of others, 
that though aware of his approach, they will not be 
fit to be admitted to his presence with those whose 
redemption is then to be completed, but will be left 
without, while the world at large will be taken by 
surprise, and will be overwhelmed with terror and 
dismay. 



398 THE GLORIFIED AND THE UNGLORIFIED. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

THE GLORIFIED AND THE UNGLORIFIED OF THE RACE DURING THE 
MILLENNIUM. 

It has been generally held, that no difference is to 
subsist between those believers who, at Christ^s com- 
ing, are to be raised from death, and the living, who 
are to be changed to immortal ; but that the bodies 
of the latter, as well as the former, are to become 
spiritual and glorious. That they are to be widely 
dissimilar, however, in nature and station, seems 
abundantly clear. 

A glorified body must differ essentially, it is plain, 
from its distinguishing characteristics, from one that 
is simply immortal. The one is no longer to be natu- 
ral or earthly ; but is to be spiritual, and from its 
very nature incorruptible. It is to be placed by its 
constitution out of the action, as completely as the 
spirit itself is, of those physical agents, which impair 
and dissolve organisms in the sphere of natural life. 
The forces by which it is to subsist, and which are to 
control it, are to be of a different and higher species 
than those of animal bodies, which are formed and 



DURING THE MILLENNIUM. 399 

subsist according to the laws of matter. A body, 
however, that is simply immortal, may still be natu- 
ral and earthly, and be subject to the laws of an 
earthly material organism, as Adam doubtless would 
have been, had he continued in obedience. Its cease- 
less life will depend, not on the nature of its elements, 
or the principle of its organization, but on the power 
of God exerted on it, or the vigor of the life with 
which it is animated. 

And that the saints who are to be raised from the 
dead at Christ^s coming, are thus to differ from those 
in life who are then to be changed from mortal to 
immortal, is clear. They are discriminated from each 
other by the apostle by the very terms which denote 
the essential differences we have mentioned. His 
language is : " Behold I show you a mystery (an event 
not before revealed). We shall not all sleep, but we 
shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling 
of an eye. For the trumpet shall sound, and the 
dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be 
changed. For this corruptible must put on incorrup- 
tion, and this mortal put on immortality. So when 
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and 
this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall 
be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death 
is swallowed up in victory,'' 1 Cor. xv. 51-5-1. Here 
incorruptibleness is predicated exclusively of those 
who are to be raised from the dead ; as it is also in 
the description, vs. 40-45, of the glorified body. 
" There are also celestial bodies, and bodies torres- 



400 THE DEAD TO BE RAISED IN GLORY. 

trial, but the glory of the celestial is one, and the 
glory of the terrestrial another. So also is the resur- 
rection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is 
raised in incorruption ; it is sown in dishonor, it is 
raised in glory ; it is sown in Aveakness, it is raised 
in power ; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a 
spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there 
is a spiritual body. And so it is written. The first 
man, Adam, was formed into a living soul ; the last 
Adam into a life-giving spirit.^' The life of the glo- 
rified body is not like that of the natural or psychical 
body, to be the efi*ect of an inbreathed psyche ; but 
the spirit itself is to be the source of it. The psychi- 
cal body has its psyche or vital principle breathed 
into it by God, and by that inbreathing it becomes 
a living organism. But of the spiritual body the 
spirit itself is to be the life. The first Adam was 
formed by an inbreathing by the Creator, into a liv- 
ing psyche — a vital organism ; the second Adam is 
formed into nveviia ^oottolow, a life-making spirit ; a spi- 
rit that makes or forms the life. And the bodies of 
the redeemed are to be made like his. " As are the 
heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly ; and 
as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall 
also bear the image of the heavenly," 1 Cor. xv. 48, 
49. " The Lord Jesus Christ shall change our vile 
body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious 
body," Phil. iii. 21. ''Beloved, now are we the sons 
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be ; 
but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be 



THE LIVING TO BE CHANGED TO IMMORTAL. 401 

like him, for we shall see him as he is/^ 1 John iii. 2. 
The spirituality of the glorified body, accordingly, is 
not to consist in an immateriality or subtilization of 
its substance, but in its spirit being its animating 
principle, in place of a psyche, which is the life of 
the natural body. Incorruption, spirituality, or life 
from the indwelling spirit, and power and glory, are 
thus given as the characteristics of the resurrection 
body of the believer, while there is no intimation 
that they are to be qualities of the changed bodies 
of the living saints. Instead, the definition given in 
these passages of the change that is to be wrought 
in them, is, simply, that it is to be from mortal to 
immortal. As the dead and dissolved body is to put 
on incorruption, so the living mortal body is to put 
on immortality. But that will be a mere release from 
the sentence to death, and the causes that produce 
it, and restoration to a state and life in which, like 
the first Adam's, it will be unobnoxious to dissolution. 
It will not involve a conversion into a spiritual body, 
or body of which the spirit is the life, in place of a 
sensitive psyche. Nor will it be a glorification, of 
which that life from the spirit will undoubtedly be 
an* essential condition. For Adam and Eve were in 
their original state immortal ; that is, they were ex- 
empt from all causes of death, and animated with a 
life that was adapted to an endless continuance. To 
suppose that they were not immortal, is to suppose 
that they were created with the seeds of death in 
their nature, and therefore under the penalty of sin, 



402 THE LIVING TO BE CHANGED TO IMMORTAL. 

which is contrary to the Divine perfections, and to 
the representations of the Scriptures. Yet their bo- 
dies were not glorified. They were natural psychical 
bodies. Other human beings then may also be ex- 
empt from all causes of death, and capable of an 
interminable life. Those accordingly whose mortal 
is simply to put on immortality, will still continue to 
be psychical as Adam and Eve originally were, in 
contradistinction from spiritual. They will simply 
be delivered from the efiects of the fall, and restored 
to the original state of the first pair. The bodies of 
the two classes are thus to be essentially different in 
constitution and life, as well as in external glory. 
The change, however, of the living, though far infe- 
rior to that of the glorified, will be of great signifi- 
cance and beauty. It will involve the removal of all 
the debasement and disorder that have resulted from 
revolt, and an elevation to a purity and perfection 
that will fit it to be the tenement of the mind, which 
is then also to be restored from the blight it has suf- 
fered from sin. The integrity and harmony of the 
powers that will then be enjoyed, the freshness and 
energy of intellect and feeling, the quickness and 
delicacy of the senses, the exemption from inordinate 
appetite and corroding passion, and the perfect union 
and concurrence that will subsist between body and 
mind, will raise those who are exalted to that state, 
to a height of beauty and blessedness, of which we 
can now form but a very inadequate conception. 
It will, perhaps, be objected to this view of the 



THE RISEN SAINTS TO BE GLORIFIED. 403 

change to be wrought in the living saints, that it is 
said by the apostle, that " flesh and blood cannot 
inherit the kingdom of God." That, however, in 
place of opposing, confirms it. For flesh and blood 
denote man's body in his fallen and mortal state, nojb 
its simple nature as a psychical organism, as Adam's 
was before his fall. The very object accordingly of 
the revelation which the apostle immediately an- 
nounces is, to show how the living saints are to be 
admitted into the kingdom of God, without a trans- 
formation to a spiritual nature, like that which is to 
be wrought in those who are raised from the dead. 
They are to be fitted for admission to the kingdom 
by a full redemption from sin and its curse, and re- 
storation to a pure and deathless nature. Their 
mortal is to put on immortality, as the corruptible 
of the dead is to put on incorruption. Their re- 
demption therefore is to be as perfect as that of the 
glorified ; though their bodies are not to be as re- 
splendent, nor their sphere in the kingdom so ex- 
alted. 

That the bodies of the risen saints are to difi*er 
from those who are simply changed to immortal, is 
shown also in the following passage. ^'And I sa^v 
the holy city, the new Jerusalem descending out of 
heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for 
her husband. And I heard a great voice from hcaren 
saying, Behold the tabernacle of God with men ; and 
he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peo- 
ples, and God himself shall bo with them, tluMr Goii, 



404 THE LIVING TO BE RENDERED IMMORTAL. 

and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes, and 
death shall not be any more, nor sorrow, nor crying, 
nor shall toil be any more ; for the former things 
have passed away,'' Rev. xxi. 2-5. The New Jeru- 
salem is the symbol of the risen and glorified saints, 
as an organized body of kings and priests in relation 
to men, as is seen from its being denominated the 
bride, the Lamb's wife, vs. 9, 10 ; from its coming 
down from heaven, Avhither none of the redeemed 
but those who have died ascend ; and from the office 
of the risen saints as kings and priests unto God, 
Rev. XX. 4-6. They are accordingly here called the 
tabernacle of God, and in vs. 10, 22, 23, the great 
city, the holy Jerusalem, of which the Lord God Al- 
mighty and the Lamb, are the temple and the light. 
They are thus discriminated in the clearest manner 
from the living saints, who are merely to be changed 
from mortal to immortal. The risen saints descend 
out of heaven from God to the earth. The living 
saints are on the earth. The risen saints are the 
tabernacle of God icitli men, the hierarchy of kings 
and priests who are to reign with Christ over men ; 
not men themselves over whom they are to reign. 
On the other hand, the men themselves with whom 
God is to dwell in that tabernacle are to be his peo- 
loles^ as numerous as the nations are to which thej 
belong. And they are to be changed to immortal, 
and freed from the curse of the fall in all its forms. 
For God shall wipe every tear from their eyes^ and 



THEIR STATIONS TO DIFFER. 405 

death, shall be no more, neither sorrov/, nor crying ; 
nor shall toil be any more. 

The same view is presented of them in the vision 
of the palm-bearing multitude, Rev. vii. 9-17, where 
they are represented as having come out of the great 
tribulation, and washed their robes, and whitened 
them in the blood of the Lamb ; and " For that rea- 
son (it is said), they are before the throne of God, 
and serve him day and night in his temple ; and he 
who sits on the throne shall tabernacle with them. 
They shall not hunger anymore, nor thirst any more, 
neither shall the sun strike upon them nor any heat ; 
for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall 
feed them, and shall lead them to the living fountain 
of waters, and God shall wipe every tear from their 
eyes." There is to be a total repeal, then, in respect 
to them of the curse of the fall, and restoration to the 
state in which the first pair were created. They, 
accordingly, are to be changed from a fallen to an 
unfallen state, and from mortal to immortality, con- 
formably to the representation, 1 Cor. xv. 40-50, 
before considered. That the bodies of the risen 
saints are to be essentially different from those of 
the living who are to be changed to immortal, is 
thus abundantly manifest. 

The stations and relations of these two classes, are 
to be as different as their corporeal natures. The 
risen saints are to be kings and priests of God and 
of Christ, and are to reign with him on the ear(h. 
These offices are expressly ascribed to them in the 



406 THEIR STATIONS TO DIFFER. 

vision of the first resurrection, Rev. xx. 4-6 ; and v. 
9, 10, and to them alone. This is indicated also by 
their symbolization by the holy city^ New Jerusalem^ 
which presents them as a structure, analogous to a 
walled city, and an organized body therefore, a hier- 
archy of royal priests who have authority over men, 
on the same principle as Babylon, -the ancient seat 
of idolatry on the Euphrates, is used as a symbol of 
the hierarchy of the Romish church, which exercises 
authority over the unofficial members of that com- 
munion. It is taught also (Dan. vii. 18-22,) where it 
is foreshown that at the coming of Christ at the over- 
throw of the power denoted by the fourth beast, ^' the 
saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and 
possess it for ever and ever." These terms and 
representations are indeed very general, yet they 
indicate clearly that the risen saints are to stand in 
very intimate relations to Christ, and to fill offices 
of great significance to men. They are to be the 
medium of communicating his will to them, it would 
seem ; for the nations are to walk in the light of the 
city, which is their symbol. Men are also to yield a 
cheerful obedience to their rule ; for the kings of the 
earth are to bring their glory and honor, and the 
glory and honor of the nations into the city. And 
those who are thus to walk in its light and bring 
their honors to it are to be perfectly sanctified ; for 
there shall by no means enter it anything that is un- 
clean, and that works defilement and falsehood ; but 
they only who are written in the Lamb^sbook of life" 



THEIR STATIONS TO DIFFER. 407 

(Rev. xxi. 27.) As they are persons then who are 
freed from the dominion of sin, they are the living 
saints who are also freed from its curse by being 
changed from mortal to immortal. These then are 
the special subjects over whom the glorified saints 
reign, or those at least of their subjects who walk in 
their light and yield a spotless obedience under their 
sway. 

The living saints who are thus to be changed to 
immortal are to occupy no such stations as kings and 
priests who reign with Christ. Their sphere is to be 
that of subjects, not of kings. They are to serve the 
Redeemer under the reign of the glorified saints, in 
stead of reigning with him and them. Yet their con- 
dition and life will be one of great dignity and beauty. 
Restored from the injuries of the fall to a perfect na- 
ture, enjoying the. indwelling of the Holy Spirit in 
the fulness of his gifts, exalted to the society of the 
glorified saints, placed under their instruction and 
guidance, and led on by them to heights of knowledge, 
of wisdom, of love, and of trust far beyond what they 
would otherwise attain, their condition will be one of 
eminent grace and blessedness, and will exemplify in 
an impressive form the perfection and glory of the 
redemption which Christ accomplishes. 

When, however, is this change of the mortal saints 
to immortal to be wrought? At the moment of 
Christ^s coming, or at a later period ? And are all 
believers who are then living to be changed at the 
same time, or at difi*erent periods ? 



408 THE TIME WHEN THE LIVING 

The change of the living is not to take place at the 
moment of Christ^s coming and the resurrection of 
the holy dead, but at a later period. This is expressly 
taught 1 Thess. iv. 16-17 : "For this we say unto yon 
by the word of the Lord, that we the living, who re- 
main unto the coming of the Lord, shall not precede 
those who sleep. For the Lord himself, with a shout, 
with a voice of the archangel, and trump of God, shall 
descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ shall 
rise first. "E-eLra, afterivards, we, the living, who re- 
main, shall be caught up with them in clouds to meet 
the Lord in the air.'' If the epoch to which this re- 
fers, is that of the change of the living saints to im- 
mortality, and the event foreshown plainly cannot 
precede that, it is clear that it is to take place subse- 
quently to the resurrection of the holy dead. How 
long a space is to intervene between the two, there 
is no intimation. It may be a considerable period. 
There are other passages also that show that time at 
least, and perhaps of some length, is to intervene be- 
tween them. Thus Christ foreshows. Matt. xxiv. 30, 
31, that it is not till the Son of Man has come in the 
clouds of heaven with power and great glory, that he 
is to send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, 
and gather together his elect from the four winds 
from one end of heaven to the other. It is implied 
also very clearly in Christ's representation of his 
judgment of the living nations after he comes. For 
his welcome to those at his right hand, " Come ye 
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 



IRE TO BE CHANGED. 409 

for you from the foundation of the world/^ shows that 
they are not before to be inheritors of that kingdom 
in the form in which they are then to become ; and 
therefore are not before to be fitted for it by being 
changed to immortal ; while on the other hand, the 
prediction with which the prophecy closes, indicates 
that it is at that epoch that that change is to be 
wrought. "And these (on the left hand) shall go 
away into everlasting punishment ; but the righteous 
into life eternal,'^ v. 46. If, as this clearly teaches, 
they are then first to enter on a life that is never to 
end, it must be by a passage from a mortal life ; and 
therefore their change from mortal to immortal is to 
take place at that epoch. 

Not only, however, is a period, probably of some 
length, to pass after Christ comes and raises the holy 
dead, before any of the living saints will be changed 
to immortal — but it is foreshown in the parable of the 
virgins, that all of them are not to be changed at the 
same time. The bridegroom in that parable repre- 
sents Christ ; the bride the risen and glorified saints ; 
the marriage the installation of those saints in their 
oflSces as kings and priests in Christ's kingdom on the 
earth ; and the virgins who were invited to the mar- 
riage supper, the living believers w^ho are to be invi- 
ted to enter into the kingdom under that union of the 
risen saints with Christ in the rule of the world. The 
ten virgins then w^ere all believers ; for they were all 
invited to be guests at the supper, and all had had oil 

in their lamps, though five of them had not bad 
18 



410 MANY ARE TO REMAIN FOR A PERIOD 

enough to secure their admission to the mansion of 
the bridegroom and participation in the feast. The 
inadequacy of their oil for the occasion, and their ex- 
clusion on that account from the mansion and the 
supper, show therefore that a portion of the living 
believers at Christ's coming will, by a want of the 
requisite qualifications, be excluded from immediate 
admission to his kingdom by a full deliverance from 
the curse and elevation to a perfect and immortal life, 
which are the condition and form of that admission. 
The gift to them of such a redemption will take place 
at a later period, when they shall have become meet 
for it ; as a like redemption also of others, who after- 
wards become subjects of renovation, will doubtless 
take place from time to time as they reach a due pre- 
paration for it. 

At what period of life believers generally of suc- 
cessive generations during the millennium will be 
thus freed from the curse and raised to immortality, 
or what share of the population of the globe will at 
any time belong to this class, no intimations are given. 
That a large share will at every period be in the na- 
tural life, and that all that come into life will be born 
in that state, is indicated by the fact that when at the 
close of the thousand years Satan is loosed and goes 
forth to deceive the nations, he will find a generation 
ready to yield to his tempting influences and make 
war upon the camp of the saints, and upon the holy 
city ; by which is meant probably those who are in 
immortal and those who are in glorified bodies. 



IN THE NATURAL LIFE. 411 

Those revolters will therefore have been boru in the 
natural fallen life, and of parents and predecessors 
who v/ere of a like birth. It is revealed, nevertheless, 
that all nations are to be brought to obedience to 
Christ during his millennial reign. At his coming in 
the clouds, he is to receive ^^ a dominion and glory 
and kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages 
should serve him,^^ and all nations, it is foretold, are 
to come and worship before him (Rev. xv. 4), and. the 
earth be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the wa- 
ters cover the seas (Isaiah xi. 9). The generations 
that come into life during that period, then, though 
born like those of the present time under the blight 
of the fall, will all become obedient, and be changed 
at length from mortal to immortal, and all will ulti- 
mately be glorified, as Christ is to " change this hum- 
ble body into a form like his glorious body,'' and all 
are to be " like him, for they are to see him as he is.'' 

This exposition of these passages is indeed objected 
to very earnestly by some, on the pretext that it is 
incredible from the nature of glorified and unglorified 
beings, that they can dwell in the same world, and 
communicate with each other ; and by others on the 
ground that if it is not impossible, it at least cannot 
be seen how human beings of such different classes 
can subsist in the same world, and each have a sphere 
suited to their nature and station in relation to the 
other. 

But to this we reply, that our comprehension of 
their several natures, their respective spheres and 



412 WE ARE TO RECEIVE THESE FUTURITIES 

relations to one another, and their modes of inter- 
course, is not a necessary condition of our faith in 
the certainty that they are to exist together on the 
earth and in intimate relations to each other. If we 
are to believe nothing but what we fully comprehend, 
we shall not believe even that the holy dead are to 
be glorified, or raised to endless life, or that the world 
is at length to be delivered from the curse, and be- 
come a new earth and a new heaven ; for we have 
no comprehension of the nature of either of those 
changes. We only know the fact from the revelation 
God has made of his purposes that they are to take 
place, and we believe them solely on his testimony. 
And so in reference to the reign of the glorified saints 
with Christ on the earth, the change of the living be- 
lievers at his coming to immortal, the continuance of 
a large share of the race from generation to genera- 
tion in the natural life, and the co-existence of these 
classes in their several spheres during his millennial 
reign ; — the question in order to our faith, is not, 
whether we have a perfect knowledge of the mode 
in which they are to subsist here, and act in reference 
to each other ; but simply whether God has fore- 
shown in his word that they are. If he has, we are 
to believe it, and as unhesitatingly as we are any 
other event in our future existence, the nature of 
which lies out of our comprehension. And that he 
has revealed the great futurities we have enumerated, 
is indisputable. 

1. He has most certainly foreshown that the holy 



ON god's testimony. 413 

dead are to be raised in glory at his coming, and to 
reign with him. Rev. xx. 4-6, v. 9, 10 ; 1 Cor. xv. 
22, 23, 40-54 ; Dan. xii. 18, 22, 27. 

2. He has most certainly foreshown, also, that the 
living believers at the time of his coming are to be 
changed from mortal to immortal. 1 Cor. xv. 52- 
54 ; 2 Cor. v. 4 ; Rom. vii. 14-17, xxi. 3-5. 

3. He has foreshown with equal certainty, that 
mankind are to exist as nations during Christ's mil- 
lennial reign over them, Dan. vii. 13, 14, 27 ; Rev. 
XV. 4, xxi. 23-26, xxii. 2, and therefore that they are 
to continue to subsist in successive generations. To 
suppose that they are not, is to suppose that the im- 
penitent, or a portion of them who are in life when 
Christ comes, are to continue in life and impenitence 
through the whole of his millennial reign, and consti- 
tute the host like the sand of the sea in number, who 
are then to make war on the holy and the holy city ; 
for if no generations are to come into life after Christ 
comes, who are to constitute the nations whom Satan 
is to seduce to revolt on his release from the abyss ? 
But to suppose that those who revolt at the close of 
the millennium are the nations who are in impeni- 
tence at Christ's coming at its commencement, is to 
suppose that no conversion of the nations is to take 
place during his millennial rei^*n ; which is to contra- 
dict the express prediction that all people, nations, 
and languages are then to serve him, Dan. vii. 14, 
27 ; that the kingdom of this world is then to become 
his, Rev. xi. 15 ; that the nations are to be beaknl by 



414 THEY AEE AMPLY REVEALED 

the tree of life, Eev. xxii. 2, and are to walk in the 
light of the New Jerusalem, Rev. xxi. 24 ; and that 
all are to know him from the least unto the greatest, 
Jer. xxxi. 34 ; Heb. viii. 11. Besides, it is expressly 
taught in the covenant with Noah, and Abraham, and 
in a great many other passages, that mankind are to 
continue in an endless series of generations ; as Gen. 
ix. 8-16, where the generations of the race are called 
generations of eternity, Dan. ix. 3, 34 ; Ps. clxv. 13, 
cxxxv. 13, where the succession of human genera- 
tions is represented as to be as everlasting as God^s 
kingdom, and his own eternity, Gen. xyii. 7 ; Joel 
iii. 20, where it is represented that the descendants 
of Abraham are to continue through an endless series 
of generations ; and Eph. iii. 21, where it is indicated 
that the church is to continue in generations that are 
to extend through the age of ages. 

4. And it is clear that those generations that come 
into existence during the millennium, are to come 
into it fallen beings ; inasmuch as the nations whom 
Satan is to assail on his release from the abyss, are to 
be led by him into an open war on the saints. They 
are therefore to be fallen beings. They cannot have 
been renewed, or they could not be seduced to such 
a revolt and meet such a doom from God. 

As these revelations then have thus been made for 
our instruction and impression, we are to receive and 
believe them, whether we can comprehend all that 
they involve or not. The events which they foreshow 
cannot present any inconsistency with our nature, or 



THE TRUTHS THEY WILL DISPLAY. 415 

God's wisdom and goodness ; or he would not have 
purposed and revealed them. Such a method of pro- 
cedure is doubtless to subserve important ends. It 
is characteristic of God's dispensations over the world, 
that they are framed and conducted in such a manner 
that on the one hand a full exhibition takes place 
under them of the character of man as a fallen being ; 
and on the other, it is seen that the salvation of those 
who are saved is altogether the work of God, and 
that they are truly recovered from the bondage of 
sin, and imbued with the holy affections that make 
them meet to be admitted to his kingdom. And the 
reign of the glorified saints with Christ on the earth 
during the millennium, and the change of a portion 
of the living saints from mortal to immortal, while 
the greater part of the living continue in the nat- 
ural life, may, among other ends, be designed to 
manifest these and other truths, the perception of 
which by the universe, is essential to a just under- 
standing of the righteousness, wisdom, and grace of 
the Divine ways. Under the present dispensation, 
there is a vast manifestation of what man is when 
left wholly without the Spirit of God, and when 
enjoying but partial measures of his sanctifying 
influences. There is no exhibition whatever of 
what he may be in the natural life under the full 
aids of the Spirit. There is none of what ho would 
have been had he not fallen, and what he may and 
will be if restored from the eilects of the fall io a 



416 THE TRUTHS THEY WILL DISPLAY. 

nature unblighted and fit for an immortal life. There 
is none of what he perhaps would ultimately have 
become had he not fallen, and what the holy are to 
be in the form they are to receive at their resurrec- 
tion, which is the highest our nature is ever to 
attain. But exemplifications of each of these will 
take place during the millennium, on a scale and with 
a resplendence, doubtless, that will reflect important 
light in the eyes of the infinite hosts that witness or 
are made acquainted with them, on the truth, wis- 
dom, and grace of God's ways. And among those 
displays, not improbably one of the most impressive 
will be, the purity, intelligence, benignity, and bless- 
edness of which mankind are capable under the all- 
transforming influences of the Spirit while in the 
natural life. For they will doubtless be raised to the 
highest perfection of which their natures, while they 
remain mortal, are capable, and a fresh demonstration 
thereby be given of the perfect righteousness, wis- 
dom, and benevolence of the laws which God has 
given men on the one hand, and proof on the other 
that the degradation and misery with which men 
have been overwhelmed through all preceding ages 
have been the work of sin. Ends of the greatest 
moment to the vindication and glory of God, and 
the intelligence and happiness of the innumerable 
hosts of his unfallen subjects, may thus be answered 
by such a dispensation. Instead, accordingly, of 
being contemplated, as it is by some, with doubt 



THEY ARE TO BE RECEIVED WITH JOY. 417 

and aversion even, it should be received with un- 
hesitating faith, thankfulness for the grace which it 
displays, and joy at the blissful prospect which it un- 
folds to our world. 



418 THE CERTAINTY 



CHAPTER XXXIY. 

CONCLUSION. THE CERTAINTY THAT THESE EVENTS ARE FORESHOWN. 

THE CHILDREN OF GOD GENERALLY ARE TO BE LED ERE LONG 

TO SEE THAT THIS IS THE SCHEME OF HIS GOVERNMENT, AND TO 
LOOK FOR THE SPEEDY COMING OF THE REDEEMER. 

Such are the great purposes which God has re- 
vealed respecting the redemption of the world ; such 
are the kingdom and reign of Christ which are at 
hand, and are to extend through everlasting ages. 
The series of events which is here exhibited as to 
precede, attend, and follow the coming of Christ, are 
not fictions, the work of imagination, or deductions 
by a process of reasoning. They are the identical 
events that are named and described by the prophets, 
and m all the forms in which their predictions are 
conveyed 5 in literal language, in language in which 
figures are employed to illustrate them, and express 
them more fully and forcibly ; and in visions, in which 
symbols are used to represent them. And they are 
foreshown through all those species or media of pro- 
phecy with a frequency, a clearness, and an amplitude 
that is not equalled by any other theme of the pre- 
dictive Scriptures. The overthrow of Babylon, of 



THAT THESE EVENTS ARE FORESHOWN. 419 

Nineveli, of Tyre, of Jerusalem itself, are not fore- 
shown with greater frequency, minuteness, and cer- 
tainty of meaning, than the continuance of the anti- 
christian powers, and the non-conversion of the world 
down to the coming of Christ ; his coming in person 
at the sound of the seventh trumpet ; his raising his 
dead saints in glory ; overthrow of the fourth empire ; 
establishment of his throne on the earth ; converting 
the nations, and reigning here in love, and continuing 
the work of salvation through the ages of ages. And 
the prophecies in which these events are foreshown 
can no more be wrenched from this meaning and tor- 
tured into predictions of a different class of events, 
than those prophecies of the destruction of Nineveh 
and Babylon, Tyre and Jerusalem, can be wrested 
from the sense by which they foreshow their over- 
throw. They cannot be set aside or made the vehi- 
cle of predictions of a different set of events by alle- 
gorization, spiritualization, or any other process that 
may not be applied with equal propriety to any other 
parts of the Scriptures, empty them of their true sig- 
nification, and make them predictions of whatever a 
lawless fancy may choose to ascribe to them. If 
Christ's coming in the clouds of heaven at the over- 
throw of the wild beast and his armies, under the sev- 
enth trumpet, is to be spiritualized, then his coming 
in person to raise and judge the dead at any other 
time must, on the same principle, be spiritualized, 
and every prophecy swept from the sacred word that 
he is ever to come in person to the earth. It* the rev- 



4:20 BELIEVERS ARE SOON TO RECEIVE THIS 

elation that he is to raise the holy dead at the com- 
mencement of the thousand years is to be spiritual- 
ized, then the prediction that he is to raise them or 
the unholy at e.ny time whatever, must be spiritual- 
ized, and the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead 
struck from existence. If the numerous prophecies 
in the Old and New Testament that he is to establish 
his throne on the earth and reign here in person for- 
ever, are to be allegorized and invested with a mere 
spiritual meaning, then all other representations of 
the Scriptures that he has a throne, reigns in power 
and glory,' and receives the homage of his creatures, 
must in like manner be spiritualized, and his whole 
office as a ruler, his sceptre, his crown, and his king- 
dom, be wrested from him ; and homage must no 
longer be paid to him as the King of kings and Lord 
of lords, who reigns through the ages of ages. There 
is no consistent medium between receiving these as 
the indubitable teachings of the Scriptures, and re- 
jecting them altogether, as an intelligible and reliable 
revelation from God. And this is becoming the con- 
viction of many of the careful students of the Bible. 
A great change has taken place in this country within 
the last ten years. Great numbers, it is well known, 
in the chief evangelical denominations, have become 
averse to the allegorization of the prophecies which 
has so long prevailed, as wholly unauthorized by any 
laws of language, as involving them in the utmost u.n- 
certainty of meaning, and as sweeping away with equal 
effect, if applied to them, all the great doctrines of re- 



AS THE SCHEME OF HIS GOVERNMENT. 421 

demption and a future existence ; and the conviction is 
prevailing extensively that to reach their true mean- 
ing, the prophecies that are expressed in language 
merely, must be interpreted according to the usual 
laws of speech ; and those that are conveyed through 
symbols, according to the principles of symbolization 
as they are presented in the explanations which the 
Spirit of God has given for our guidance, of the lead- 
ing symbols in the prophecies themselves. And a 
similar change is taking place in Europe. Several 
scholars of high repute on the continent unreservedly 
repudiate and denounce the allegorizing and spiritu- 
alizing methods of exposition as wholly unauthorized, 
absurd, and misleading ; and they are rejected also 
by a large body of able and evangelical teachers in 
Great Britain. 

This great scheme of administration is consistent 
also with all the other teachings of the Scriptures, 
and corroborated by them. It is inwoven with them 
in every part of the sacred volume, and it is in its 
light alone that they can be justly understood. No 
forced constructions are necessary to bring them into 
harmony with it ; no yawning gulf is to be leaped to 
pass from the one to the other. And it exhibits the 
work of redemption in a greatness and beauty that 
are suitable to the grandeur of God^s attributes, and 
the wonderfulness of the means by which it is accom- 
plished. A complete restoration at length of the 
generations of men from the curse of the fall, and 
contmuance of their redemption as they come into 



422 IT IS CONFIRMED BY 

existence trom age to age, through the round of 
eternal years, and exaltation to the spotlessness, 
the glory, and the bliss of immortals, seem suitable 
to the power, the wisdom, and the mercy of God, and 
in harmony with the greatness of Christ's humiliation 
and sacrifice, and the riches of his love. It corres- 
ponds too with the vastness of the divine empire, and 
the momentous ends it is to answer in the rule of the 
infinite hosts of his subjects through eternal years. 
Their view, who reject this system, has no such con- 
currence with the attributes of God, or the descrip- 
tions that are given in his word of the exhaustless 
riches of his grace : but exhibits the salvation of 
men as confined within very narrow limits, and fall- 
ing infinitely below the preparation that is made 
for it in Christ's expiation. For it maintains that 
the renovation and pardon of men are to reach their 
end after the lapse of a few centuries more ; that 
Christ is then to abdicate his mediatorial oflSce ; and 
that to prevent any farther accumulation of evils 
from the fall of men, their multiplication is to be ter- 
minated, and the earth struck from existence ; imply- 
ing that Christ's work is not adequate to the redemp- 
tion of men, as a perpetually multiplying race, from the 
curse of the fall, and restoration of them, to holiness 
and immortality ; and that Satan is to triumph not 
only in the ruin of more than will be saved, but in a 
demonstration that the difficulties in which he has in- 
volved the divine government are such, that God not 
only cannot remedy them ; but that he cannot escape 



THE OTHER TEACHINGS OF THE SCRIPTURES. 423 

a worse defeat by any other means than preventing 
a further multiplication of the race by bearing them 
to other scenes of existence, and annihilating the 
earth. For why should he intercept them from 
continuing to come into life, if he can redeem and 
reign over them in a manner glorious to his perfec- 
tions, and favorable to the well being of the rest of 
his kingdom ? 

That this is the scheme of the divine purposes that 
is revealed in the Bible is confirmed, moreover, by 
the consideration that it belongs to a great system of 
predictions that have been fulfilling for four thousand 
years ; all the verifications of which have been accord- 
ing to their sense as interpreted by the established 
laws of language and symbols, as we have stated and 
applied them. A vast series of the language pro- 
phecies that were addressed to Noah, to Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob, to Moses and the Israelites in 
Egypt and at Sinai, to Samuel, to David, to Isaiah, 
and the other prophets of the Old Testament, to the 
Jews by Christ, and to the Jews and Gentiles by 
the apostles, have been fulfilled ; and every one of 
them according to the sense of the prediction as in- 
terpreted by the ordinary laws of language. Not a 
verification or probable verification of one of them, 
if allegorized, or spiritualized, can be shown to have 
taken place. To apply that method of interpretation 
to the promises to Noah, Abraham, and David ; to the 
predictions of the conquest and destruction of Jeru- 
salem by the Babylonians; of the captivity of the 



424 IT IS CONFIRMED BY THE PRESENT 

Israelites in Assyria and Clialdea ; of the overthrow 
of Tyre, Nineveh, Babylon, Egypt, Idumea, Moab ; of 
the incarnation and death of Christ ; of the capture 
of Jerusalem and dispersion of the Jews by the Ro- 
mans ; and a long series of other predictions, would 
be to empty them of all their true meaning, and con- 
vert them into a senseless jargon of words. The 
symbolical prophecies of Daniel respecting the 
Babylonian, Median, Greek, and Roman empire have 
also been in a great measure fulfilled ; and a 
large share of the symbolic predictions of John 
respecting the Roman empire and the church have 
been accomplished, according to their sense when 
interpreted by the laws of symbols as they are ex- 
emplified — as we have stated them — in the explana- 
tions that are given by the Spirit of inspiration in 
the prophecies themselves. And not one of them 
has been verified in any other sense. To attempt to 
spiritualize them, is to make caricatures of them, and 
render it impossible to show that they have had any 
accomplishment. As all the prophecies that have 
been fulfilled, have thus been fulfilled according to 
the sense they bear as interpreted by these princi- 
ples ; so it is according to their sense as interpreted 
by these principles that those predictions are to be 
accomplished, that are still to have their fulfillment. 
And the present attitude of the world and church 
is such as this system of predictions contemplates. 
There are no indications whatever of a conversion of 
the world by means like those now employed for the 



ATTITUDE OF THE WOELD AND CHURCH. 425 

purpose, while it continues under the administration 
at present exercised over it. Large as the success 
of missions is, not the slightest progress, taking the 
world together, is made. So far from it, the retrogres- 
sions in Christendom into infidelity, atheism, panthe- 
ism, or other forms of fatal error, are immensely more 
than enough to counterbalance the conversions even 
nominally to Christianity in heathen lands. Within 
fifty to sixty years, nearly the whole of Protestant 
Germany, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, 
and Switzerland, have gone into rationalism, atheism, 
or pantheism ; and idealism, pantheism, spiritualism, . 
or other forms of infidelity have spread to a vast ex- 
tent in Great Britain and her colonies, and in the 
United States. 

On the other hand, there are decided indications 
that many of the great events foreshown in these 
predictions are to take place. No one would be sur- 
prised at a revolution in Europe that should over- 
throw the old dynasties, and give rise to democratic 
or military despotisms. Should that occur, no one 
would deem it improbable that some talented chief- 
tain, like the first or present Buonaparte, would rise 
to the head of those despotisms, and reunite the 
western Roman empire under his sceptre. No one 
would be surprised should such a despotism ally it- 
self to the Catholic hierarchies for the sake of their 
support. No one would think it strange should such a 
monarch under the promptings of those hierarohios, 
renew the persecution of the Protestants, and at- 



426 BELIEVERS GENERALLY ARE SOON TO RECEIVE 

tempt to exterminate those of them who should 
boldly denounce him as the beast from the abyss, 
and proclaim the speedy coming of Christ to destroy 
his enemies, and establish his throne on the earth. — 
No one would be surprised if such a persecution 
should recoil on the Catholic church, and lead to its 
disseverance from the State, and its destruction. It 
is what a vast proportion of the people of France, 
Spain, Italy, Germany, and even Great Britain now 
wish. It would excite no general surprise, should 
the Israelites return to their national land, and reor- 
.ganize and re-establish themselves there as a nation. 
It would excite no surprise if under the impressions 
made by those great events, the conviction should 
very generally prevail with the people of God, that 
the coming of Christ is at hand, and great numbers 
should go forth to proclaim that belief, and bear the 
glad tidings of the gospel to the nations of the earth. 
The civil world is most manifestly tending toward 
these political and antichristian events. The ten- 
dency of the evangelical church is manifestly toward 
the views and the agencies which are foreshown of 
the people of God. 

And finally, it is revealed in these prophecies that 
while the antichristian party will continue to reject 
the doctrine of Christ's personal coming and reign, 
persecute those who hold and teach it, and oppose 
and endeavor to intercept the establishment of 
Christ's kingdom ; his true people will ere long be 
brought to receive it ; and the undoubting belief and 



THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST^S COMING AND REIGN. 427 

open profession of it will become one of their most 
distinctive characteristics, and lead the civil rulers 
and apostate priests to attempt by persecution and 
war to sweep them from the earth. It is manifest 
from the measures which the persecutors are to take 
to preserve the bodies of the slain witnesses so that 
it may be seen with the most indubitable certainty 
whether they are raised from death, or not, that the 
witnesses are to die in the belief that they are to be 
raised ; and that they, therefore, and their party are 
to interpret the prophecy of their slaughter and re- 
surrection literally, not spiritually ; and thence that 
they are to interpret the other prophecies with which 
it is associated literally also ; and accordingly that they 
are to believe in the speedy infliction of destroying 
judgments on the apostate church ; the coming of 
Christ to intercept the beast and his armies in 
their attempts to prevent the establishment of his 
kingdom in the earth ; the resurrection of the holy 
dead at that epoch, and the commencement of his 
miillennial reign. The whole body of the witnesses 
and those who sympathize with them are thus indubi- 
tably to be avowed, and earnest believers in Christ^s 
speedy coming and reign. The announcement by the 
angel flying through mid-heaven having the everlast- 
ing gospel to preach, that the hour of God's judg- 
ment has come, shows also that those whom the 
angel represents are to know that the hour has come 
in which Christ is to descend to judge and destroy 
his enemies according to the predictions of these 



428 BELIEVERS GENERALLY ARE SOON TO RECEIVE 

prophecies, and establish his empire on the earth. 
The shout of the people of God from the earth in 
response to the voice from the throne, after the over- 
throw of Babylon, " Alleluia ; for the Lord God Om- 
nipotent reigneth ; Let us rejoice and exult, for the 
marriage of the Lamb is come,'' indicates also that 
" all his servants, small and great," on the earth at 
that time, are to understand that the time of Christ's 
coming to raise his holy dead has arrived, and that 
the destruction of his enemies, and the redemption 
of the world is immediately to follow. The whole 
body of the sanctified are unquestionably therefore 
very soon to receive these as the teachings of the 
prophetic word, and are to profess and cherish them 
with the utmost earnestness and joy. The Spirit of 
God will breathe into their hearts a desire to under- 
stand what the purposes are which he has revealed. 
Faithful men will be raised up who will unfold and 
demonstrate more clearly that the principles on 
which the prophecies are to be interpreted, are those 
by which they are a revelation of these great events ; 
and the accomplishment of the predictions of the de- 
scent of the wild beast into hades, and its return, 
thence in the form of an eighth monarch of the whole 
empire, with ten subordinate chiefs that give to him 
their power, the renationalization of the Catholic 
hierarchies, and a fresh persecution of those who ad- 
here to their allegiance to Christ, will break the fet- 
ters of prejudice in which so many of God's people 
are now held, show them that the literal is the true 



THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST's COxMING AND REIGN. 429 

construction of these predictions, and lead them to 
an -unhesitating and exulting faith in the coming and 
reign of Christ, as not only the doctrine of his word, 
but their only salvation, and the only hope of the 
world. 

Such is the issue in which this controversy is to ter- 
minate. No prepossessions ; no endeavors to perpet- 
uate the opposite belief; no struggles against the 
light of truth ; no efforts of antichrist or Satan can 
prevent it. It is the sovereign and gracious will of 
God, and he will accomplish it by his omnipotent 
Spirit and providence. It is in reference to this ques- 
tion that the two great parties into which mankind 
are to be divided, are to array themselves, and engage 
in their last conflict. The true people, the faithful 
witnesses of God are to believe and proclaim the 
great teachings of the prophecies, that Christ is to 
come in person, raise his saints from the grave, de- 
stroy the apostate hierarchy symbolized by Babylon, 
and the persecuting civil powers represented by the 
wild beast, establish his throne on the earth, judge 
the nations, convert those of them that are not con- 
signed to destruction, and reign here for ever over 
the ransomed race. Antichrist and his party are to 
deny it, and to undertake to verify their denial by 
disproving the prediction of the resurrection of the 
slain witnesses, and the establishment of an Israelit- 
ish kingdom in Judea, and are to perish in the at- 
tempt. 

It is a subject, therefore, of the greatoi^t practical 



430 IT IS A SUBJECT OF MOMENT. 

moment, and is ere long to attract all eyes, and agitate 
all hearts. Let those who wish to be found on the 
side of Christ, beware how they trifle with or neglect 
it. Let those who reject and oppose his coming and 
reign, consider what the party is with which they are 
arraying themselves, and what the destiny is to which 
it is hastening. 



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